La Conner, Washington
A family farm on the Skagit River | 34 acres of orchards, pastures & woodlands
La Conner, Washington
A family farm on the Skagit River | 34 acres of orchards, pastures & woodlandsWe farm along the North fork of the Skagit River outside of La Conner, Washington. Most of what we produce supports our family restaurant in Ballard, San Fermo.
We manage orchards, pastures, a market garden, and woodlands. We raise sheep, cattle, hogs, and free range fowl. This land has been farmed for generations before us. We took it on in 2021, and it's the backbone of everything we cook at San Fermo.
Tim and Kelly Baker bought the 140-year-old Anderson farm to support the restaurant and to build a more honest relationship with land, food, and family. We renamed it Swan House Farm after the cottage Frederick Anderson built in the 1880s for Swann Olsen — the two men survived a mining accident together, Swann reportedly saved Frederick's life, and Frederick returned the favor by making him a permanent member of the family and giving him a home on the property.
Today the family works the farm with their two younger sons and daughter-in-law, tending the garden, caring for the animals, and mending fences. Each year they plan the garden and livestock projects with their eldest son Sam, the chef at San Fermo, around what he wants to put on the restaurant menu and on the farm dinner table.
Most of what we grow and raise goes directly to the restaurant. What's left stocks our seasonal farm stand, where neighbors and visitors can pick up prepared foods, fresh produce, and farm products.
In summer, we open the farm for dinners and visits. It's the best way to see where your food comes from and spend an evening in a place that feels a long way from the city.
Corriedale, Suffolk and Southdown cross sheep. Grass-fed angus from our own pastures and neighbouring ranches on Pleasant Ridge. Apple and nut finished Duroc hogs. Free range ducks, chickens and geese. All raised on pasture, processed on-site or at local facilities.
Apples, stone fruit, seasonal vegetables, herbs, flowers, and root crops. The market garden drives much of what appears on the San Fermo menu.
Pear and apple butter, preserves, pickles, herb salts, onion jam, and calendula healing salve. Available at the farm stand when open.
San Fermo hosts farm dinners on select weekends from May through September. The afternoon starts with an arrival reception and hors d'oeuvres, followed by walking tours of the farm. Then we sit down for a five-course paired wine dinner in the garden. The evening finishes with dessert and coffee.
Menus are driven by what's available from the farm each season. Our chef receives a fresh sheet a few weeks before each event and builds the menu from there. All 26 guests are served the same meal, featuring our lamb, beef, pork, and produce from the garden and orchards.
Events start between 3:30 and 4:30 depending on the time of year and generally end between 7 and 8 PM.
If you have dietary restrictions, please reach out before purchasing tickets. Unlike restaurant dining, options for course substitutions are limited.
Tickets: $450 per ticket, admits two guests. Includes reception, 5-course paired wine dinner, tax, and service.
Events often sell out before menus are published. Email to join the waitlist for sold-out dates.
Our seasonal farm store stocks products made at San Fermo with farm ingredients, plus fresh produce and goods straight from the property.
Open seasonally. Please check before making the drive.
Grass-fed beef and Duroc pork bolognese, saffron spaghetti, castelvetrano olives, marcona almonds, Italian burrata, stracciatella, finishing oils, balsamic, and baked pastas ready to cook.
Duroc pork shoulder, golden beet borscht, onion jam, pear and apple butter, pickles, apples, eggs, preserves, herb salts, and calendula healing salve.
Farm dinner dates, openings when a seat comes back, and first word on next season's tickets. A few emails a year, nothing more.