Farm Spotlight: Footehills Farm
Footehills Farm is nestled in the pine covered hills outside of Colbert, WA. Retired teachers Thom and Torrie Foote moved from Alaska in 2011 with the vision of becoming closer to their food supply. Their ⅔ acre herb farm is intentionally designed using three main permaculture principles: care of Earth, care of people, and sharing the surplus.
When Thom and Torrie first began to cultivate their land it was made of hard clay. Over the course of the past eight years they have built a structure of rich and fertile soil in their 30 planting beds. Techniques utilized include no-till farming, Hügelkultur, biochar, and applying thick layers of compost made from coffee grounds and chicken manure.
Thom and Torrie do their best to live a frugal and organic lifestyle. Many of the materials at Footehills Farm including some roofing, drip tape, and fencing are reused, bartered for, or made from natural resources on the farm.
Besides their main products of dried and fresh herbs, salves, plant starts, garlic, and horseraddish, Thom is excited to start experimenting with dry rubs for pork, beef, and chicken this year!
The beautiful herbs you’ll receive in your LINC Boxes will be grown and bundled by either Footehills Farm or Smoot’s Flavor Farm in Pullman, WA. Visit www.footehillsfarm.net to order their herbs, teas, and salves. Find their horseradish and horseradish sauce at Huckleberries on Monroe!
Thom from Footehills Farm
The greenhouse with a grapevine covered arbor and strawberries at the forefront.
Marjoram
Mexican oregano, rosemary, and sage.
Footehills Farm uses gravity to carry water from these water tanks through its drip irrigation system.
Compost creation at Footehills Farms. Thom uses lots of leaves and coffee grounds!
One of Footehills Farms main crops, garlic. Behind the garlic you can see the beginnings of a living fence made of saplings and thorny bushes like raspberries, marionberries, and goji berries.
The finished product! Greek oregano, french tarragon, and spearmint bundles for the LINC Boxes!