Tag Archives: farmers

Bainbridge farming icon Akio Suyematsu dies at 90

Longtime Bainbridge farmer Akio Suyematsu died this afternoon. He was 90 years old.

His friend, Gerard Bentryn – who grew grapes next to Suyematsu’s Day Road berry fields – said Suyematsu passed away at a Seattle care facility surrounded by family.

Bentryn and other island farmers credit Suyematsu for keeping farming alive on Bainbridge.

“Though his sheer stubbornness and talent, he’s made farming keep going,” Bentryn told me in 2007, when Suyematsu was still farming at 85. “Akio’s the core of it all.”

You can read more about Suyematsu here.

He was born on Bainbridge in 1921, when the island was one of the state’s largest producers of strawberries.

He was sent to an internment camp with other Japanese Americans during World War II. Shortly after his release, he was drafted and then trained for the all-Japanese-American 442nd regiment, one of the most decorated in the history of the U.S. armed forces. The war ended when he was on furlough, and he was shipped off to Germany to serve as a military policeman.

He returned to the island in the late 1940s and has farmed ever since. Most of the island’s full-time farmers credit Suyematsu’s generosity and practical know-how for making them the farmers they are today. Mostly, they say, he led by example, putting in long hours without much rest and no complaints.

Bentryn said Suyematsu was in a great deal of pain shortly before he died. He was recovering from surgeries to treat problems with his heart and stomach.

“Nobody wants to die, but he didn’t want pain,” Bentryn said.

Bentryn expects a memorial service will be announced in the coming days.

“Not having Akio… it’s a big change for us,” he said.

PHOTO: Lenna Himmelstein, Kitsap Sun (2005)

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“Ikea meets iPod,” and then meets Bainbridge farmers

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In case you missed it, click here for my story on the donation of cutting-edge prefabs to house Bainbridge Island farmers.

Called “Ikea meets iPod” by Building Design + Construction magazine shortly after they were unveiled in 2007, the small factory-built units were aimed at creating inexpensive workforce housing in Seattle while challenging the common perceptions about manufactured homes. With vegetated roofs, computer controlled lighting and heating and a sleek, ultra-modern design, the units were created with Seattle’s young urban professionals in mind.

Instead, the project’s two prototype units are headed to an old Bainbridge farm to house the island’s young rural farmers.

The Housing Resources Board has until mid-October to move the units. Until then, you can still see them at their current location atop Rainier Square in downtown Seattle (right below the Rainier Tower).

I’ll try and cover the move, which will involve cranes, flatbeds and a ferry trip across the sound.

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Farmers market opens Saturday

farminternThe Bainbridge Farmers Market kicks off another season this Saturday, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the park between City Hall and Bainbridge Performing Arts.

Local farmers say crops are taking a little longer to grow because of unpredictable weather. Many are waiting for temperatures to warm up before they can offer their usual spring bounty.

“It’s a slower growing season this year, even slower than last year,” Jackie Aitchison, executive director of the Washington Farmers Market Association, told Sun reporter Brynn Grimley for a story this week on the county’s markets.

Despite this season’s weather challenges, the Bainbridge market’s growers told Sound Food’s Carolyn Goodwin that customers can expect some popular offerings on Saturday.

Here’s what Goodwin had to say on a recent post:

Early offerings will be mostly in the hardy greens category. But a fresh local salad tastes amazingly good after a winter of grocery greens. Crumble some creamy Port Madison Farm goat cheese over the top and you’ll finally get a taste of spring.

Butler Green Farm also has spinach, bok choy, leeks and carrots. Our favorite Island food blog, Small Potatoes, recently posted a tasty recipe for Spinach Pie that would be a perfect way to celebrate your first bag of local spinach. Brian’s bok choy is fabulous, this week I steamed it with some shiitake mushrooms and cod fillets in a super-simple recipe that is wonderful over some brown basmati rice. It will be even better with some of the fresh halibut that just hit T&C this week.

Betsey Wittick of Laughing Crow Farm will bring some overwintered potatoes and cabbage (I’m working through the box of German Butterball potatoes I bought from her at the end of last season, and they still make great eating). Rebecca Slattery of Persephone Farm always has some interesting early-season crops like cardoons, which are at their best in the late winter.

Read the rest of Goodwin’s post, as well as several recipes using local ingredients, at Sound Food’s Web site.

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A bountiful island harvest = an added day at the market

With the island’s farms still bursting with abundance, the Bainbridge Farmers Market is adding one extra day to its regular season.

The market will run until Oct. 25 before taking a break and moving indoors starting in late November.

Yesterday, the market was bustling with customers and vendors.

The guys from Tanni Creek Farm had quite a few varieties of squash, and even more ways to describe their flavors (“nutty and sweet”…”savory and buttery”) and ways to cook them, including a few recipes for squash-based baby food.

Island fisherman Paul Svornich was offering his canned tuna after returning recently from another ocean adventure, and Farmhouse Organics had just a touch of honey left until next year’s harvest.

The market will reopen at Eagle Harbor Congregational Church on Nov. 22 and close in late December.

For more on the market, visit bainbridgefarmersmarket.com

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