No, we don't grow thistles in our pastures!  But if we did, yes, they would be wet most of the year.  Actually, the thistle comes from the Voelker family crest.  Just a few months after our daughter was born in 1993 we took a long weekend to Leavenworth, WA, a Bavarian theme town about a 3 hours drive from our home.  While there we visited one of the little shops selling all things German, this one specialized in family crests from the "old" country.  The shop was filled with mugs, banners and plates, displaying various family crests, usually a catching combination of colorful flags, lions and knights.  We asked the gentleman owner to look up the Voelker crest.  It would be nice to have a family crest banner hanging in our own home.  Soon, he had found the crest and as he flipped open the book to the correct page, we saw it!  Not a powerful lion or brave knight, but .....a thistle!!  A single stem with purple flower and a few leaves around the base.  UGH!  Needless to say, we didn't buy the crest that day and it became sort of a family joke.  

Seven years later, as we thought about a name for our new farm, the thistle came back to us.  Wet Thistle Farm--- Wet for living in the Pacific Northwest and Thistle, the symbol of the Voelker family.  It turned out to be a good fit, and I guess the thistle isn't that bad after all--as long as it stays out our pastures!!

About a year after naming the farm, we were at the Puyallup Fair in Puyallup, WA and came across a family crest and history booth in one of  the commercial buildings.  This time we bought the crest. You know, that little thistle sort of "grows" on you.