Alaska State Fair honors 2023 Farm Family of the Year

The Alaska Division of Agriculture and the Alaska State Fair honored this year’s Farm Family during the Opening Day Reception last Friday.

This year’s family, Bo Varsano and Marja Smets, own and operate the Farragut Farm, located on the remote Farragut Bay outside of Petersburg, approximately 35 miles north of Petersburg.

Varsano and Smets started Farragut Farm in 2010 and co-manage the farm together, farming vegetable crops using organic methods and focus on building rich soils sourcing local modifications such as seaweed, compost, and fish scraps.

The farm is only accessible by boat, and Varsano and Smets use a 27-foot catamaran to bring their produce to market, taking 4 to 5 hours to make the trip from Farragut Bay to Petersburg.

“You have to get to the farm by boat, which is not the easiest thing to do,” said John Harkey, President of the Alaska State Fair Board of Directors.

Because of the remoteness of the farm and waiting for very high tides to get from the slough to their sailboat before traversing to Petersburg, Varsano and Smets were unable to attend the ceremony in person but did conduct an interview with Big Cabbage Radio, which provided clips during the ceremony.

“We’ve grown a whole host of things over the years, starting out really diverse with over 60 different varieties of vegetables. And through the years, we’ve narrowed down as we figured out what’s worked well in our rainforest climate here, and what we can produce on a scale that we work on our farm,” said Smets. She said that while they own 40 acres, they have a little over an acre of cultivated land.

“It’s all hand work, hand tools,” she said of their off-grid farm, but have had some help with the farm. “Over the years we have had interns or farm hands that have come here and stayed with us during the summertime and worked. And there’s been years where it’s just been Bo and I, and maybe some friends and family to come help during particular harvests.”

They sell from their farm stand in Petersburg to local customers as well as wholesale to schools, grocery stores, and value-added food producers in Petersburg, Juneau, and Wrangell. In addition to the farm, they have founded the Southeast Alaska Farmers Summit and continue to play a key role in the planning and execution of the biennial event.

“That’s something we hold very near and dear, the Southeast Alaska Farmers’ Summit,” said Smets, adding that they believe the best way is to learn from others. She said that during February, hosted over 150 people.

“I think it’s really helps to foster a really sharing environment among the agricultural community here in the Southeast.”

Using ingenuity and out-of-the-box thinking, they are able to set up systems that overcome the landscape, remoteness, and weather in Farragut Bay and are able to provide locally- grown vegetables to Southeast Alaska residents because there are not that many farms in their location, so the fresh vegetables are much appreciated.

“(They are) Just fantastic people who are innovative, who saw needs for their community, and just the nicest folks you could ever meet,” said Cody Beus, the Secretary for the Alaska State Fair Board of Directors during the ceremony.

Governor Mike Dunleavy was also on hand, thanking everyone involved in farming and those who buy Alaska-grown produce and dairy.

“We have a great tradition with farming. Sometimes it’s fallen on hard times, such as with our dairy farms,” he said, adding that he makes an effort to buy milk from the last remaining dairy farm in Delta, the Alaska Range Dairy, and encouraged others to do the best to support local farmers and continue to grow things locally.

“Let’s do our best to buy local, do as much as we can.”

Addressing lessons from the pandemic concerning food insecurity, Governor Dunleavy said:

“The more you can grow local, the better chance we have of getting through tough times and growing that sector.”

Varsano and Smets hope to continue harvesting and providing healthy, fresh vegetables to their customers for many years to come. They are currently focusing on expanding their garlic and carrot crops and hope to someday provide fresh carrots to all the school districts in Southeast. In the meantime, the will continue farming in Alaska because they can spend their days outdoors in a beautiful part of the world. They enjoy the freedom to choose the rhythm and flow of their days, making a living from home, and the creative problem- solving that is demanded by challenges inherent in farming.

The Alaska Division of Agriculture and the Alaska State Fair created the Farm Family of the Year award in 2000 to recognize Alaska farm families that exemplify the spirit of the industry and to show their appreciation for hard-working Alaskans committed to agriculture.

“Bo and Marja being recognized with this award is especially impressive when you consider that they’re first generation farmers who only started Farragut Farm in 2010,” says Division of Agriculture Director Bryan Scoresby.

“I’m personally inspired by Bo and Marja’s future goal of providing fresh carrots to all the school districts in Southeast Alaska”