August 18, 2017
CapitalPress.com
15
DeGoede Bulb Farm and Garden in third generation
By SHERYL HARRIS
For the Capital Press
MOSSYROCK, Wash. —
Travelers along Washington’s
scenic Highway 12 are bound
to notice the colorful fields of
tulips, iris and perennials that
is DeGoede Bulb Farm and
Garden.
Henry and Hildegarde De-
Goede started the operation
in 1951 in the Skagit Valley
of Washington state. Needing
more property, they purchased
land outside Mossyrock, and
around 1976, they moved
the family and business to its
present location nearby.
Today, sons Jack and Bob
and grandson Alex are at the
helm. Jack and Alex manage
field production, Bob handles
the garden center and contain-
er plants, and Alex manages
cut tulips and the Dutch irises.
While bulbs have been a
mainstay, Jack DeGoede says
they are adding more perenni-
als. This is because the bulb
market has been decreasing
and labor costs and competi-
tion from Europe have been
increasing.
“We have about 100 year-
round employees in all divi-
sions,” Alex says. “It might
vary by 10 or 12 seasonally,
but that’s all.”
Jack explains, “Our work
is steady so it allows us to
Sheryl Harris/For the Capital Press
Sheryl Harris/For the Capital Press
Jack, left, and Alex DeGoede are two-thirds of the team heading up DeGoede’s Bulb Farm and Gar-
den. Jack’s brother, Bob, is the third team member.
keep good people. Replacing
our workers is difficult since
we can’t use temp or season-
al workers, so we’re always
looking for ways to stream-
line our work.”
He describes a recent
equipment advance that fills
containers.
“It took two people to do
it; now it takes one,” he says.
Since it is much faster, actual
savings may be four or five
employees over the year. Jack
says another way to save is
growing plants in beds, not
rows as they get more plants
per acre and it helps grow
them to size without dividing
them.
About 250 of their 300
acres are in production. About
95 percent of DeGoede’s
product goes to U.S. buyers.
Container production goes to
an area between Bellingham,
Wash., and Eugene, Ore., west
to the Olympic Peninsula, and
east to the Yakima Valley.
About 80 percent of the
field production goes east of
the Rocky Mountains.
Before
leaving
De-
Goede’s, visitors enjoy the
peace of the Farm Chapel
One of the greenhouses at DeGoede’s Bulb Farm and Garden
near Mossyrock, Wash. Together, the greenhouses total 12 acres.
and Prayer Trail. Henry and
Hildegarde DeGoede built
them to give thanks and glo-
ry to God for the blessings
they had received in their
lives, marriage, and a busi-
ness to pass to future gener-
ations.
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