CONTACT: Derek Long, 360-647-7093 x101, derekl@sustainableconnections.org

April 2, 2025 – It is with great sadness that Sustainable Connections announces the closure of the Cloud Mountain Farm Center (CMFC) nursery on June 30th, 2025. CMFC, an educational farm center located in Everson, Washington, has been a part of Sustainable Connections since its official merger in 2019.

CMFC’s nursery has made a lasting impact by building a strong community of farmers, home growers, and educators who inspire others to grow. After four decades of offering educational workshops and an incredible variety of regionally adapted plants, the nursery will end its operations due to funding challenges. As CMFC operational costs have continued to increase, and despite substantial fundraising efforts, Sustainable Connections has not been able to replace the funds lost from a long-standing, large annual donation. This is a significant programmatic loss for Sustainable Connections, and the organization recognizes and shares in the loss that the community may also be feeling with this news.

CMFC will operate at a smaller scale going forward, with a focus on essential site maintenance and its processing, aggregation, and distribution services. Nursery-led workshops will conclude by the end of May and at the end of June, CMFC will close the nursery. The community is encouraged to connect with Sustainable Connections and CMFC newsletters and social media for updates on end of season sales.

“When the farm merged with Sustainable Connections in 2019, our focus was on how to diversify the funding base, grow the Cloud Mountain community, and strengthen programs. We never dreamed of the day we would have to close the nursery and fruit programs,” says Derek Long, Executive Director/co-founder of Sustainable Connections. “We have exhausted many resources to sustain the nursery program and have not been able to replace the major annual donation for food systems work that recently ended.”

Sustainable Connections expresses deep gratitude to the community members, partners, donors, and volunteers who have supported CMFC’s nursery over the years. While this chapter is coming to an end, Sustainable Connections remains committed to serving our local food system through our Food & Farming program, the Eat Local First Collaborative, and our Processing, Aggregation, and Distribution program.

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NURSERY SALES

• Effective April 3rd: 25% off store wide and 50% off bareroot fruit trees (bareroot sale available in person only)
• Effective May 1st: 50% off store wide
• Effective May 15th: 75% off store wide
• Effective May 22nd: 90% off store wide

CMFC will stop taking online orders after April 30th. All online orders placed must be picked up by May 15^th or they will be refunded.

CMFC will be reaching out to non-profits and mission aligned organizations about donation of plant materials to make sure they go to good homes. Any remaining stock after Memorial Day weekend will either be auctioned or sold in blocks to growers, homeowners, or landscapers.

Members can still use their additional 5% member discount on top of the closing sale discounts and stay posted for other special offers. CMFC will not offer the purchase of new memberships at this time.