Boulton Farms
Boulton Farms
Acres Preserved:
141
Year Conserved:
2014
Category:
Conservation Easement
Natural Features:
I’m not interested in making lots of money, but in keeping this farm intact as a working farm. This working farm is the legacy I want to leave.
– John Boulton, Farmer (1927 - 2022)
A Birds-Eye View
This large family farm has been an important part of Quilcene’s agriculture since the early 1900s. Olympic Peninsula residents will know, and visitors perhaps remember, the farm’s historic red barn along Highway 101, painted with tall white letters spelling “BOULTON FARMS.”
Here, you’ll find prime agricultural soils, scenic open space, and fish and wildlife habitat. The property is more than 200 acres, 142 of which are permanently protected. A portion of Andrews Creek runs across the farm, flowing north into Crocker Lake along with several agricultural drainage ditches, and connecting to salmon-bearing Snow Creek. An approximately 27-acre forested area on the sloped western portion of the property is the source of at least two natural springs in the forested slopes. Water collects in the forest and drains into the waterways, supporting the Quilcene watershed and the Snow Creek watershed. Boulton Farms sits at the high divide between these two watersheds.
The springs and creeks provide water for domestic and irrigation uses on the farm, and the land’s high soil quality makes it suitable for fruit, vegetable, and grain production; pasture and hay crops; and animal husbandry. In addition to the historic barn, the farm has a workshop, corrals, a silo, and three homes where farmers and their families can live.
The farm and its protection stand as a testament to John Boulton’s vision, patience, and dedication. In 1944, his father, Arthur William Boulton Sr. purchased the property and established Boulton Farms. The family ran a dairy there, and later raised beef cattle. The rich soils were continually replenished with cow manure mixed with wood shavings from a mill.
John Boulton (born in 1927 and deceased 2022) helped run the family farm from the age of 20. He managed it as a dairy until 1963, and was named Jefferson County Dairy Farmer of the Year in 1962. He transitioned to beef cattle in 1964. In 1985, his daughter Janice and her husband Pat took over the farm management.
From a young age, John was committed to preserving family farms and conserving natural resources. He sat on the Jefferson County Conservation District Board for 57 years, its longest serving officer. Through the years he helped the Conservation District expand its mission to conserving natural resources. He helped his father plant waterside vegetation to protect habitat and/or prevent erosion and flooding along Andrews Creek. John represented the Conservation District on the Washington Association of Conservation Districts’ Forestry Committee, and was an active member in the Washington Farm Forestry Association and the Washington Contract Loggers Association.
Over time, John saw much of the working farm and forested land on the Olympic Peninsula being lost to development, and considered how he could keep the family farm a working farm forever. He realized that, in his words, “putting legal restrictions on the use of the land would work only if there were a watchdog to assure the protections were honored in the future.”
With this in mind, John turned to Jefferson Land Trust wanting to place a conservation easement on the land. In 2014, John sold the Land Trust a conservation easement on 142 acres of his prime farmland. This legal agreement limits development on the land, ensuring it will remain available as working farmland forever.
Grants from the Jefferson County Conservation Futures Fund program and the Federal Farm and Ranchland Protection Program provided funding for purchase of the easement.
The video below was comissioned by Jefferson Land Trust in 2013 while the project was underway and helps tell the story of protecting the Boulton Farms property.
The Protected Property Today and Tomorrow
Beginning in the early 2000s, the farmland was leased to Zach Wailand and Haley Olson of Dharma Ridge Farm, a family-run organic produce operation.
Following the successful protection of the farmland, the Dharma Ridge farmers leased and then purchased the property, and they continue to manage it as a farm today.
In addition to operating on the historic Boutlon Farms land they also lease a portion of Glendale Farm (also protected by Jefferson Land Trust).
More Information
Boulton Farms is not open to the public but their fine vegetables can be found in stores across Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and even as far as Anchorage Alaska.
Dharma Ridge Farm also leases a portion of historic Glendale Farm (also protected by Jefferson Land Trust) in Chimacum where they operate a pumpkin patch that's open to the public on weekends from late September through late October.
