Producer
Choice Bulb Farms
Contact: Jan & Ritva Roozen
City: Mount Vernon, WA, 98273
About Us
Choice Bulb Farm is a small bulb and flower grower located on 6 acres in fertile Skagit Valley WA. Skagit Valley is located about 60 miles north of Seattle. They are a family business in the old-fashioned sense. Jan Roozen, the owner, is a fourth generation bulb farmer from Holland. He grew up and learned the trade in Holland. Jan met his wife Ritva in her home country of Finland. They immigrated together to the U.S. in 1973, moving to the fertile Skagit Valley to work on Jan’s uncle’s bulb farm. In 1984, Jan and Ritva started their own company, Choice Bulb Farms. For many years they have shipped bulbs and blooms to floral buyers across the country.
Known for a wide array of unusual and gorgeous specialty bulb crops, Choice Bulb has weathered the ups and downs of the floral industry over the past thirty-eight years. Choice Bulb Farm grows specialty bulb crops including daffodils, muscari, lily of the valley, tulips, eremerus, brodiaea, hyacinths, erythronium and alliums, also woody crops including pussy willow, lilacs and bittersweet. While they no longer ship products around the country, they have built a loyal following of customers from the University District and Ballard Farmers Markets in the Seattle area. One of the first seasonal field growers to appear at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in spring, Jan’s heirloom knowledge of the bulb industry brings an important dimension to the market and he is known for generously sharing information with other growers and customers alike. Although Choice Bulb sells mainly through the SWGMC Front Desk, customers lucky enough to encounter Jan in person rarely slip away without some gem of philosophical wisdom. “For me, its more than just a business,” he explains. “It is really important that the person who enjoys the flowers I grow does so for a week or even 10 days.”
Known for a wide array of unusual and gorgeous specialty bulb crops, Choice Bulb has weathered the ups and downs of the floral industry over the past thirty-eight years. Choice Bulb Farm grows specialty bulb crops including daffodils, muscari, lily of the valley, tulips, eremerus, brodiaea, hyacinths, erythronium and alliums, also woody crops including pussy willow, lilacs and bittersweet. While they no longer ship products around the country, they have built a loyal following of customers from the University District and Ballard Farmers Markets in the Seattle area. One of the first seasonal field growers to appear at the Seattle Wholesale Growers Market in spring, Jan’s heirloom knowledge of the bulb industry brings an important dimension to the market and he is known for generously sharing information with other growers and customers alike. Although Choice Bulb sells mainly through the SWGMC Front Desk, customers lucky enough to encounter Jan in person rarely slip away without some gem of philosophical wisdom. “For me, its more than just a business,” he explains. “It is really important that the person who enjoys the flowers I grow does so for a week or even 10 days.”
Practices
Growing Practices
“We like to think we do a responsible job of leaving the soil we farm in at least as good of shape as we find it in,” says Jan. “We try to grow to the best of our ability those crops that fit best in the climate and soils where we farm. Thus we try to make a living with minimal input from outside resources such as fertilizers, pesticides and hired labor.”
“We like to think we do a responsible job of leaving the soil we farm in at least as good of shape as we find it in,” says Jan. “We try to grow to the best of our ability those crops that fit best in the climate and soils where we farm. Thus we try to make a living with minimal input from outside resources such as fertilizers, pesticides and hired labor.”