Remlinger Farms keeping idyllic country life alive for city folk

by Luke Timmerman
Seattle Times Eastside business reporter

In a prepackaged world built for speed, the farming life is easily forgotten. That's a disturbing realization for urbanites who grew up with a Mark Twain-style country ideal and now have young kids of their own.

Few people have capitalized on that emotion more effectively than the husband and wife team of Gary and Bonnie Remlinger of Carnation.

The desire for what they call "the farm experience" is apparent during harvest time as people flock to Remlinger Farms for a taste of farming nostalgia and home-grown foods.

Feeding that desire has turned into big business, attracting more than 100,000 customers each year to the Snoqualmie Valley farm along the Tolt River. The Remlingers have about 750 acres, their own market, and a line of ready-to-bake pies that appear in 100 West Coast grocery stores.

Customers have changed, but business is steady, say the Remlingers. It began with a U-pick berries business more than 30 years ago and continued through transitions to prepared foods and an amusement park.

The growth in the amusement part of the business is apparent on an October weekday. It's not uncommon to see 15 school buses in the lot for elementary-school field trips that mix play with a little learning about where food comes from. The squeals of schoolchildren are a constant, whether on the steam train or in the barn that's essentially a petting zoo. On weekends, the lot can be even more packed as parents tag along with cameras.

For the adults, there's arts and crafts, a restaurant, and a market with fruits and vegetables and canned goods, many with the rustic Remlinger Farms logo.

"It hasn't been part of a plan," said Bonnie Remlinger. "We've given people what they've wanted."

The key is "want." When customers asked for something to eat and drink during berry-picking in the 1970s, Remlingers added a snack stand. When customers asked to look at the animals, they opened up the barn.

Although they would not disclose sales or profits, the customer traffic speaks to the Remlingers' ability to shift gears to stay with the consumer winds.

Both Bonnie and Gary come from farming families, and they are partners in the business. Gary focuses on the crop farming, while Bonnie focuses on the learning and entertainment programs for kids. Daryl Sherfey, one of their in-laws, was hired five years ago as a general manager.

The market opened as a U-pick in the late '60s but began fading in the mid-80s, Sherfey said. Its prepackaged foods picked up steam "as people got busy" in the early '90s, Sherfey said.

In the last several years, the farm has switched directions again. Now the emphasis is on catering to children with a small roller coaster, wagon rides, a hay maze, a pioneer homestead, and plenty of decorative cornstalks and smiling scarecrows. A $5 admission gets kids a 90-minute weekday tour and a pumpkin.

Although Sherfey said the farm has resisted becoming another Knott's Berry Farm, some locals question whether it is already too commercial and is no longer a farm. Neighbors have complained about the traffic and the noise from some of the concerts the Remlingers have brought in.

Sherfey says the farm is still producing pumpkins, strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and rhubarb. It sells its own goods at its store, plus those from farmers around the West.

However, as supermarkets improve their produce sections, the farm "experience" and the amusement park are more critical for the farm's financial success.

"They want to see the berry field, and then be able to buy them in a jar," Sherfey said. "They want the experience of coming to the farm, and the buying convenience of the store."

Elke Bradley, a Kirkland parent, said much of the attraction is in the fresh air.

"It's nice because you get a bit of the country and it's not that far from the city," Bradley said. "You don't see high-rises out here. ... It's a place to come and get away."

Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times Company

Copyright © 2000 The Seattle Times Company