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The present day Green Bluff Growers...
...is an association of small family farms and food stands. Seasonal activities include pick-your-own fruit and annual festivals such as:
- June Strawberry Celebration
- July Cherry Festival
- July Cherry Pickers' Trot and Pit Spit
- August Peach Festival
- September Apple Harvest Festival
That's a big change...
...from the earliest days of the growers' association, which formed in 1902. In those days, the group's mission was to protect local strawberry growers from outside competition. Now, the association helps local farmers with agricultural tourism. The promise of an old fashion farm experience brings thousands of visitors each year to the rolling hills northeast of Spokane.
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If you're from the city...
...and have never had an opportunity to pick your own fruit or are simply out enjoying a ride on a beautiful day, take a drive out to Green Bluff. There are two loops, the West and East, full of small farms for the adventurous visitor to discover. Part of what makes Green Bluff unique in the entire country is the large concentration of farms (over 30) within such a relatively small area (approx. 12 square miles.)
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It's fun because...
... the experience and crops you'll find vary by season. For example, arrive in early August and buy apricots picked less than an hour before. While eating the juicy and still warm fruit, take a moment to examine the beauty of a golden wheat field beside the road.
Or come sometime mid-September...
...through October for the Apple Festival. What started a couple of decades ago as a one-day celebration of apples at the Green Bluff Grange has evolved into a six-week, all-out apple frenzy. Just like the old days, Green Bluff's more than two dozen growers continue to sell bushel upon bushel of Jonagolds, Granny Smiths and Fujis. But now they also entice families with live music, hayrides, corn mazes, pony rides and petting zoos.
The Green Bluff Growers Association... ...may have changed somewhat over the last 100 years, but the country hospitality of its members remains just as warm and friendly as a century ago.
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