Hey Guys! My name is Bob and I would like to introduce you to our farm! First a little history. My great grandfather Mike immigrated to the US in 1888 and homesteaded in the Snohomish valley just 4 miles up the road from our current farm. He was originally from northern Italy.
As the first generation in this area he grew apples on his farm, which my dad and his brother still own up on Ricci road. My grandpa Ted took the farm over from his dad eventually and turned it into a dairy farm. My dad was raised on the dairy farm with his 8 siblings. My dad, Darrell followed in his father’s footsteps and went into dairy farming. In 1969 he purchased the farm that we now own today. There, he and my mother Joanne raised us 5 kids.
I wasn’t as into the cows as my siblings and didn’t have much interest in showing them at the fair. My dad thought I needed to do something so he planted a small strip of sweet corn and told me that I could sell the corn at a small stand at the side of the road, I was 9 at the time.
My little corn stand slowly grew over the years until the time came for me to go off to college in Pullman (Go Cougs!). I drove home every weekend during the fall (with the exception of home Cougar football games!) and ran my corn stand. Honestly though, if it wasn’t for my mom’s help while I was in college, things wouldn’t have gone very smooth! After graduation, I came back home and expanded to wholesaling my corn to Safeway grocery stores. This was a great opportunity at the time. I worked on the dairy farm with my dad on top of running my business.
I met my wife Sarah and we were married in 2000. In 2001 my dad made the tough decision to sell the cows. This turned into a blessing in disguise. The calf barn was converted into our country store, it was a fantastic improvement over the little corn stand we had used for the previous 15 years. We also had a baby that year as well and stopped selling corn to Safeway, we were able to retail all our corn from our new store on the farm.
However, without the consistent paycheck from the dairy, I had to get a full-time job off the farm. We decided that I would need to work both jobs for maybe 2-3 years until the farm operation could support us. A funny thing happened during those next few years, we kept having one daughter after another! Each time we had a new baby girl, I would tell my employer that they had me for at least another year. I just couldn’t dare leave a good job with full medical and dental! Nearly 8 years and 5 daughters later, I finally was able to leave that job in April of 2009.
Making the transition to farming full time was the best decision ever. I was able to pour my heart and soul into farming. Along the way I had added a few extra crops to my offerings along the way. I planted a small, very small pumpkin patch in 1996, we did u-dig potatoes for a few years and raised gladiolus too. While we still grow pumpkins, we stopped with the glads and potatoes, they weren’t really our thing. 2001 was the first year we tried our hand at a corn maze, and now we have 18 private fire pits you can rent IN our corn maze. We have added fun farm themed attractions to our farm little by little over the years. We have made it into a place where you can come shop in our store or spend the whole day with your family making memories to last a lifetime!
Our 5 girls have loved being raised on the farm. Each of them is so unique, it is fun to watch who they are each becoming. Our oldest daughter Kylie is a doctor and in residency now. She married her high school sweetheart almost two years ago now! I have made her promise someday to buy me a tractor when she can afford one. Our second daughter, Abi, is back working full time on the family farm and learning how to farm from her dad after attending college for 2 years. We are excited to have her back and learn the family business! Ellie Mae is a full-time nanny and loving it. She will still be working seasonally at the farm in her fudge shop so don’t forget to stop by! Lucy Jo, now a sophomore in high school, continues to impress with her lemonade stand – a refreshing treat that showcases her entrepreneurial spirit. Jorja, the baby of the family, is now a freshman and has been exploring various farm tasks, although she’s been flourishing while working in the Country Store the past couple seasons.
My dad passed away in November of 2021 and a few months later my family and I moved into the farmhouse. Mom still lives here with us and it has been even better than we expected. My girls get to spend precious time with their Nana daily and have a blast with her. Living on the farm now has afforded us the gift of time. Our girls are always around and it has been such a fun process to teach them how to drive tractors and help out with some of little projects that I need an extra person to help with. The memories that our family is making are priceless. If you have never met us before, make sure you introduce yourself next time you are in.
We love to hear and learn from our customers and about their experience here at Bob’s Corn! Please use one of the methods below to get in touch with us about yours!
(360) 668-2506
Info@bobscorn.com
