FAQ

Can we visit the farm?

Yes! I'll be happy to see you. I need to be there and sign you in, so email me to schedule. No pets, though -- household animals aren't allowed on organic food production fields. 

We're at the edge of Woodinville. There's a dirt road to drive and then a short walk over rough grass to Word of Mouth. We also have an entrance from the bike trail along the Sammamish River (part of Eastrail-in-development). Check with me if you're bicycling and I'll make sure it's unlocked. 

What if it's TOO MUCH VEGETABLES?

I can suggest easy ways to eat a lot of veggies. I mean, sometimes *really easy* -- I am very tired when I get home from the farm. 

For instance: Slightly goopy leftovers, possibly from delivery dinners? Maybe mostly the leftover rice? Reheat them on top of a big pile of greens. All melds together deliciously. And now it's healthy! Does it matter what kind of takeout or which greens? Not that I've noticed. Or: fold a hot pizza in half over a lot of chopped greens. Try ranch dressing in the middle of the greens in the pizza. "Yes-And!" with vegetables, is my take.

If you have too many veg to eat but some time to cook, many of them can be easily prepped for the freezer. Barely boil greens, so they shrink, and freeze them. Or make spicy flavorful saag, it freezes and reheats really well. Little batches of dried herbs, maybe in the air fryer? You're going to eat them as soon as our fresh veg season stops, they don't need to be packed like they're keeping for a year.

I also usually have a seasonal recipe to suggest with the week's vegetable list. Sometimes complicated, sometimes not.  

What if I'm gone for a week?  

A neighbor can pick up your share from your porch or mine;  or I'll deliver it to a food bank that wants fresh veg. I find the University District Food Bank is well set up to offer veg to people who want them, so I usually go there.

What if I'm gone just for a weekend? 

I can keep your insulated bag in the farm cooler until Sunday night and you can pick it up from my porch Sunday night. 

Are you organic? 

I am not certified organic, but I don't do anything that would lose Viva Farms the organic certification they have for the land they rent to me. They check my records and an organic certifier verifies all of us.

(I'm not personally certified because certification itself costs money, on top of doing the work and the paperwork. It doesn't make sense for a very small farm.) 

Why are you doing this? 

Because I think someone ought to and apparently I can. My story roughly goes, normal ecological anxiety; then most of a PhD for soil science, which amplified the ecological anxiety a lot. I started working as day labor on a bigger local veggie farm because everything I read said that we should be eating a lot of local plants, grown without herbicides and pesticides... but that means with more *labor*, and I didn't want to just say Somebody Else should do the hard part.  

And it was really hard! Even just once a week! I used to go home and lie on the floor and groan because I was so stiff! And yet I kept going back. I was fascinated by the practical decisions made to get great food out of land right here. There is joy in being outside all day (except in smoke or floods or dire heat). I'm glad I didn't have to do it my whole life, but I can do it now. And also, my standards for fresh vegetables have gone *way* up.  

I'm staying in the city for family reasons, (also I love the city too), but since I'm commuting back into the city, I can at least cut out the  "last mile" delivery trip for my customers.