A Long Line of Work - The Story of Canales Produce
“That man is special. He is a community builder, super smart, hard-working and cares about people. I feel lucky to have him in my life. He grows the best food on the planet, and he is a role model for how to be in this world and walk this planet.”
The rural community of Birdsview was once mostly an area of small farms, but, like many such places around the West, it has become prime land for luxury homes, retirement estates, and equestrian properties. But one 15-acre parcel, with a modest farmhouse, is growing a rare crop for the Skagit Valley – and it’s become a fan favorite at Seattle farmers’ markets.
Mannie Canales, 57, grows a gorgeous plump asparagus called Millennium Purple Passion. Rich and flavorful, Mannie’s purple stalks have a unique juicy texture because they never want for spring rain – unlike asparagus grown in Eastern Washington, the more popular location for the crop.
“The flavor is absolutely amazing,” Mannie said as he cut several spears poking through the soil. “Everyone wants it, and we don’t have enough.”
His property holds some of the Skagit River’s famous sandy loam, giving it the drainage that asparagus needs to grow without rotting from the heavy Skagit winter and spring rains.
Harvesting asparagus is a grueling task, done by hand, using a small pole with a razor on the end, bending over to cut each stalk individually.
“They are the hardest working family I’ve ever met. The amount of hours he works is just unlimited. I don’t know how he does it, and he never seems exhausted. ”
The Canales operation is a true family farm. Mannie’s two children, Alie, 25 and Mannie Jr., 34, help him harvest each morning during the spring asparagus season. His wife, Michelle, categorizes the asparagus by size.
This is another distinguishing feature of the Canales farm, which allows buyers to choose bunches of very similarly-sized asparagus, so they all cook the same.
When Alie and Mannie Jr. can’t help with the harvest, Mannie heads out to the field with a headlamp at 2 a.m. to cut it all himself, and then spends the rest of the day selling it at Seattle-area farmers’ markets.
Mannie Jr. said he knows many men who can’t even make it through one day of bending over cutting asparagus, but his dad has done it for years.
“You’ve got to be a bad ass,” he joked.
Many farmers don’t have the time to sell their own product directly to their customers, but Canales has seen the benefits of doing it himself over the past 20 years.
“It makes more work, but it’s a personal connection,” he said. “And those people are loyal.”
His third daughter, Adriana, 27, sells their product at the Capitol Hill farmers’ market each week.
“He spends so much time and effort creating such an incredible product, he wants to be there sharing it with people,” said Sam Kielty, who has worked in many roles including management with the Neighborhood Farmers’ Markets organization, which runs several farmers’ markets in Seattle.
She remembers meeting Mannie and his family seven years ago, on her first day on the job. Canales was with his family, and Kielty was immediately struck by his positive energy and work ethic.
“They are the hardest working family I’ve ever met,” she said. “The amount of hours he works is just unlimited. I don’t know how he does it, and he never seems exhausted.”
The ever-changing tastes of Seattle shoppers has required Mannie to innovate and modify his farming practices over the years. He also purchased his father’s farm in Eastern Washington, which allows him more consistent product throughout the seasons. In addition to asparagus, Canales grows blueberries, specialty blackberries, and has a following for his seven different varieties of grapes.
Kielty said that Mannie brings a special tool to the market, which measures the sugar content in grapes, and he shows customers the ideal sugar reading for each variety.
“His grapes are mind-blowingly delicious,” said Mary Ellen Cunningham, a frequent customer and avid gardener.
Cunningham, a non-profit consultant, said she views her weekly visits to the farmers’ market like going to church – a place to find community, while supporting small businesses and farmers who are good stewards of their land. She loves the entire experience of collecting her produce for the week (without disposable bags), after which she comes home and arranges it on the counter to admire the beauty.
Cunningham said each variety of Canales’s grapes are unique shapes, colors and flavors, from oblong to round, pink-green to dark purple, and from super sweet to musky.
Buying asparagus from Mannie was Cunningham’s first “farm to table” experience, and she vividly remembers first tasting the huge difference between Manny’s asparagus cut fresh that morning, and store-bought asparagus.
“There is just a natural freshness that comes across in the texture,” she explained. “It’s not rubbery or mushy.”
Canales and Cunningham became friends through the farmers’ market, and, last year, Cunningham drove up to the Birdsview farm to help Mannie plant 8,000 purple asparagus crowns.
“That man is special,” she said. “He is a community builder, super smart, hard-working and cares about people. I feel lucky to have him in my life. He grows the best food on the planet, and he is a role model for how to be in this world and walk this planet.”
On top of everything else, Mannie was an assistant wrestling coach at Concrete High School for five years.
Canales comes from a long line of hard work. His father came to America from Mexico to work as a migrant farm worker. With 10 children, the kids stayed in the car while the parents worked the fields, until they were old enough to work themselves.
Their earnings were pooled together to finally buy their own land in Eastern Washington. When Mannie was old enough, he got a job in construction, and eventually earned enough money to put a down payment on a house.
He’s continued to invest everything he’s earned into more real estate. He purchased his Birdsview property 25 years ago before real estate prices went out of reach for many farmers, and he eventually purchased his father’s farm in Eastern Washington as well.
“We are land rich and cash poor, but that’s ok,” he said. “I’m not going to get rich, but I appreciate being able to put seeds in the ground and grow things for a living.”
Story and photos by Tahlia Honea: info@skagitonians.org