It is harvest season on farms across King County – the perfect time to get connected with the families that provide the wonderful fresh and healthy food to your favorite farmers market, restaurant, and grocery store.

The King County Harvest Celebration offers farm tours, fresh produce, kids activities, chef demonstrations and more. This is an opportunity to learn how important and convenient it is to support your local farms.

On Saturday, Sept. 25, nine farms will be open for tours in the Snoqualmie Valley. Farms are open to the public between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Admission is free.

Visiting a farm during Harvest Celebration is a terrific way for folks to learn more about where our food comes from and to draw the link between locally grown food and good nutrition,” said King County Executive Dow Constantine. “I encourage everyone to get out and visit one of our fine King County farms.”

Now in its 12th year, the tour is coordinated by WSU Extension with support from King County and others.

“Farming in rapidly urbanizing areas is very complex and we need to work together to provide the services successful farmers need,” said WSU Extension educator Chris Benedict.

Michaele Blakely, owner of Growing Things Farm and a member of the King County Agriculture Commission, said strong family farms help keep the region’s population connected to their agricultural roots and help rural towns remain viable places to live.

“We recognize the important relationship between city residents and rural farmers and want to show people what our farmers are doing to provide us with more and more tasty food each year,” she said.

For more information, including a list of each farm and the activities that they will be offering, visit the Harvest Celebration website at http://king.wsu.edu/foodandfarms/harvestcelebration.html. Farm tour guides are also available at King County Library branches.