Farming among the next crop of local startups

Siri Erickson-Brown kept 27 chickens this spring in her Capitol Hill apartment, where the closet doubled as a grow operation for hundreds of tomato seedlings.

Two summers ago, she was one of dozens of interns apprenticing on local farms, learning to snip slugs, handpick lettuce, raise pigs, fertilize soil and chat up customers.

When she was done, she faced a daunting challenge: finding affordable farmland near Seattle.

As demand grows for local food -- an appetite fueled by health-conscious urban families, schools, food banks and restaurants -- many are questioning where that supply and a new generation of farmers will come from.

Despite zoning laws and millions spent to protect King County farmland, those programs haven't always achieved a key goal of keeping land in agricultural production.

Erickson-Brown got lucky. She found a partner near Carnation who already owned farmland and tractors, but didn't want to spend time selling at markets.

"It's a good time to be a farmer in Puget Sound, but we really need a lot more to meet the demand," said Erickson-Brown, 29, who farms roughly five acres as co-owner of Local Roots Farm in the Snoqualmie River Valley.

Now in its second season, rows of onion sprouts grow next to last year's flowering kale. The tomatoes are taking off inside greenhouses, while chickens peck weeds and fertilize beds outside.

"There sure aren't a lot of new farms like us showing up at the markets," she said. "Without this special relationship with our landowner out here, there's not a chance we could do it."