Changes at South 47 Farm; farming as a livelihood to be emphasized

Redmond's South 47 Farm — as the community has known it for the past several years — has closed. Kids' field trips and birthday parties will no longer be offered there. Yet the good news is that the property will still feature beautiful farmland in the midst of suburbia.

Roger Calhoon, commonly known as "Farmer Roger" or "Dr. Maize," will stay on as a tenant and will continue the seasonal corn maze, as well as selling pumpkins and other produce.

Other tenants who've already been leasing space at the South 47 will actually expand their operations, said farm coordinator Claire Thomas, who is also owner of the Root Connection. Those tenants include the Root Connection, as well as Woodinville's Herbfarm restaurant, Chef Brian Scheehser, who is executive chef at the Heathman Hotel in Kirkland and Famai Chang, who grows fruits and vegetables for Seattle's Pike Place Market. Several non-profits are interested in leasing space on the property, too.

Thomas said that both the economic climate and actual weather issues contributed to, but were not the only reasons for, the changes at South 47.

"A very wet October decreased our corn maze income ... and the heat wave in summer hurt our raspberries and blueberries," she explained, "but it's really more a decision to change what our business focus should be. What do our tenants want? All wanted to lease more land, use more space."

Referring to the many kids' activities that were running at the farm, Thomas added, "We spent a couple of years studying closely whether this is a good business structure for the farm. The news is not bleak, but sad because of the programs we've built for the community. Our original mission was to provide places for farmers to have their own businesses. We're going back to more farming as a livelihood because managing all the diverse projects was enormously time-consuming and expensive — all the advertising, the e-newsletter, the liability insurance and so on."

Through e-mail lists, a former employee is contacting many of the youth groups which were regular visitors at the South 47, to let them know that the educational tours have been discontinued.

The South 47 Farm is located at 124th Avenue Northeast and Woodinville-Redmond Road.

Questions can be directed to farmllc@yahoo.com.

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