Skipley Farm — Attraction in Snohomish

I am conflicted about writing anything, but I will. I came across the farm through a Google search and quickly read their website and reviews. Someone mentioned in their recent review about having a good u-pick experience. However, the website stated that u-pick starts around July, so I decided to call. The person who answered politely informed me that u-pick would open in a couple of weeks. Today, when I called again, I heard via voicemail that currants and gooseberries were available for purchase. So, even though the u-pick experience wasn't available yet, my husband and I decided to take a long drive to this place. I won't lie, the moment we stepped out, we felt a bit spooked. There were only a couple of other cars there. We followed the signage that said "farm," but we still navigated our way through with some debate. I was a bit confused about where the shop was or whom to ask, despite memorizing the artistic hand-drawn map on their website. My husband spotted a group of 3-4 people with the owner, who assumed out loud that we were there for strawberries. He had a friendly dog who came to where we stood and made us feel warmly welcomed. Ultimately, we decided to leave. Surprisingly, though, a young kid from a house on the farm waved at me in a friendly manner and said "muchacha." I waved back, of course. I just looked up the word and thought I would use this post to request the proprietor to extend my greetings and gratitude to the friendly kid who made me smile. Although our brief, in-person interaction with the proprietor was odd, we wish him well. We assumed it would be rude to intrude on his ongoing session with the group, so we excused ourselves. I completely understand that the proprietor may be the only person multitasking at the time and probably providing an orientation. The air quality was great, so hopefully, next time, beyond just enjoying the fresh air, I'd love to taste some fresh fruits. Near the parking area, there was a tree loaded with cherries and a couple of apple trees. They all looked amazing, and I am sure they will taste good when...

My family drove 2 hours to visit this farm, as it is one of the only farms in Western Washington that offers organic u-pick. I was so happy to find that this farm is what I’d call “better than organic” - the owner is passionate about biodiversity and water conservation, similar to the dry farming practices on vineyards throughout Europe. Americans are so accustomed to obsessively maintained and overworked conventional farms that a farm that opts for nature to do the bulk of the work may look rustic (which I love) , but that’s really the point of a bio diverse farm- stewarding the land gently & allowing the ecosystem to flourish and do it’s job. When you know the impact these holistic farming practices have on all of us and the land, you see the immense beauty in the tall grass & “weeds”, the blemishes on the apples, the bugs here and there. This farm is the real deal organic operation - it is small, diverse, and connected - right down to the owner wanting to chat face to face with his customers & share his farming knowledge. People aren’t used to any of this anymore, and this shows in the few negative reviews here. So if you’re passionate about farming that is gentle on the environment to create food that is nutritious and gentle on the body, this is the place to u-pick.

This is a beautiful, delightfully rustic, kid friendly farm with chickens running about, delicious apples to enjoy, and a staff that is interested and friendly to them. I will make this drive again,...

Yikes. I’m bummed to be writing this review, since I came here two years ago and had a wonderful time. Today I came again and brought friends and we left disappointed - not because of the lack of apples (it’s understandable), but the owner’s attitude.

His ‘orientation’ was 15ish minutes of inconsistent, condescending, pretentious rambling. He gave a few different numbers for the varieties of apples he had on his property. This isn’t a big deal, but if he maybe toned down the ego I wouldn’t have minded as much. He scolded a couple for speaking to their child during his speech, which was so unnecessary, given that they were whispering and not bothering the rest of us. He told us multiple times that there weren’t many apples left and they’d all been picked the weekend prior. Again, this is fine, but then he made a comment about a couple leaving at this news, as if we were supposed to stay and bask in the greatness of the empty orchard? And then he had the nerve to call it a ‘one-man operation’, despite another employee hacking away in his yard as he did so, another ringing folks up, and telling us about all of the people who helped plant his trees.

He isn’t the only man in Western Washington who cares about sustainability and growing your own food, but if you look at the comments and how he responds to them, and if you manage to sit through his entire orientation, you’d think he was. Save yourself the headache and go down the road to the other orchards - he told us to do...