Jacob Slosberg (Class of '06) is clear-eyed about why he was drawn to a career in sustainable agriculture. "I’m interested in the human side, the mechanical aspect, the systems perspective, and an integrated approach to farming. The whole thing," he shares.
Jacob and his wife, Amy Frye, own and operate Boldly Grown Farm - a family-owned, certified organic mixed vegetable farm in Skagit Valley, Washington. Boldly Grown sells year-round produce, with the primary focus being high-quality fall and winter vegetables for wholesale markets.
"I attended Middle and Upper School at Northwest - all seven years," laughs Jacob. "And then later went on to complete a BS in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), where I met Amy."
Amy Frye is originally from Minnesota, and completed an interdisciplinary degree in Resource Management and Environmental Studies at UBC. "We have complimentary skillsets," she observes. "Jacob knows crops, crop cycles, and productivity. And my expertise is the environment and sustainability." She pauses and then jokes, "I guess that means we get stressed out about different things!"
Jacob and Amy balance their own young family (they have a 9-year old and a 6-year old) with the never-ending demands of farming: infrastructure and facilities expansion, crop rotations, farming and harvesting, applying for agricultural grants and funding, and much more.
I remember the teachers and my friends at Northwest - I’m still really close with about 5-6 people in my class. The learning community and environment program got us working together.
This is their 12th year farming, and it has been a rewarding journey for the couple. "We started off with one acre," says Amy, "and then bought this property in 2021. It was an old dairy farm, and so we salvaged the materials and rebuilt on it." Today, Boldly Grown encompasses 60 owned acres in vegetable farming, and an additional 40 acres that they manage to meet market demand.
She proudly notes that Boldly Grown is certified organic and has water rights to the adjacent Samish River, from which they draw water to irrigate all the fields. "We’re right on the Samish River and we are both salmon-safe certified and organic certified."
The farm focuses on wholesale distribution (to organizations like the Puget Sound Food Hub Co-operative) rather than largescale distributors and restaurants.
"We also focus on winter crops to feed people during the off season through Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) - this is one our market niches," explains Amy. Boldly Grown directly partners with CSA locations up north near Lynden, WA, and in Georgetown (King County region).
We both came to farming through our sustainable environment and agricultural backgrounds. Being able to provide living wage agricultural jobs is very important to us.
Jacob has fond memoires of his seven years at The Northwest School. "I remember the teachers and my friends," he reminisces. "And I am still really close with 5-6 people in my class." He especially appreciates his experience in the environment program.
"It was special, the way that the teachers pulled everything together, and tied different topics and subjects into the learning." He recalls learning about evolution, where "we started out and began the unit by listening to classical music from that specific era. It really helped to contextualize and set the tone for what was going on in the world during that period."
This layered systems approach continues to guide his unique approach and perspective to agricultural ecology and farming today.
We really believe in our mission, and in being a good employer. That's what makes our farm unique: getting quality produce and food to people.
Today, Boldly Grown splits crop planting and harvesting cycles between fresh harvest crops (such as kale, habaneros, winter squash, arugula, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, and radicchio) and long-term storage crops that are harvested in the fall (like beets, potatoes, daikon and watermelon radish, cipollini and shallot onions, and carrots).
"We also do year-round produce now," says Jacob, "like tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, dill, cilantro, parsley, celeriac, and more. Typically, September through January is our busiest time." The farm has also started growing some grains to increase crop diversity, and it has a mixed orchard where the couple grow "all kinds of stuff," jokes Amy.
The Northwest School's Dining Program is proud to serve produce from Boldly Grown Farm on a regular basis in our on-campus Dining Hall.
Says Director of Food Services, Bethany Fong, "We truly appreciate our partnership with Boldly Grown. You provide a variety of food options that enable us to prepare meals for students to try and grow their palates."
Both self-admittedly data driven, Jacob and Amy have instituted tracking systems to monitor planting, produce, yield per bed, drought and flood-related impact, and several other related patterns to compare the farm's annual output and profitability. "This helps us plan for the future and track trends," he says.
When asked to share a parting thought for the current and extended Northwest community, Jacob takes a moment to think about it. Then he simply responds: