Sustain Project - Kurtwood Farms

I have been thinking a lot about where my resources come from. Of course, you can go to Safeway and pick up a block of cheese or a steak without seeing the cow, turn on the light without any regard to where this power is coming from, or drive to work without seeing the oil rigs working to get you there. I wanted to start out by looking at what small farmers are doing around Seattle to create more of a "Farm to Table" experience. Yesterday I rode my bike onto the Vashon Island Ferry and headed over to Kurtwood Farms. Firstly, something happens to you when you step onto a ferry. A sense of relaxation takes over, especially when you are on foot or on a bike. The ride to Kurtwood Farms is a 6 mile trek from the ferry with views of the Olympics and the occasional glimpse of Mt. Rainier.

When I got to the farm I was warmly greeted by Kurt Timmermeister and given a quick tour of the pasture, creamery, house, and barn, before he started tending to his cheeses. Kurt, who has dabbled in many activities on his farm, while trying to figure out which one will be most successful, seems to have settled on making cheese with the milk from his Jersey Cows. Kurt sells the cheese to local vendors throughout the Seattle area, while working to perfect his creations. In thinking about this project I wanted to give it a certain feel of timelessness, which is why I chose to shoot the majority of the images in medium format film with my Hasselblad. Shooting in this format is both challenging for me as well as very exciting. I hope to continue working with Kurt and other local farmers in the future as the weather warms up in the coming months. If you haven't already, please check out Kurt's new book Growing a Farmer.