We spent part of Sunday afternoon – a gloriously sunny, warm day – touring around Wild Hare Organic Farm, a local gem of a farm, which, just a few miles off the 5, and east of the city, feels a world away.
The 20-acre farm originally focused mainly on berries – raspberries as well as blueberries and strawberries – but has expanded into many diverse plantings. Tomatoes, fava beans, kale, summer and winter squash, salad greens, and dozens of different herbs were all thriving in the fields.
Our tour guides – the husband and wife owner duo, Mark and Katie – led us through the farm, explaining their organic and salmon-safe farming methods, introduced us to their egg chickens and goats, and even let us nibble a few berries right off the vines.
I walked away with a renewed appreciation for just how hard farming is – particularly the organic, sustainable, mostly by hand kind. Dealing with yearly changes in growing seasons, the weather, the potential for pests and blight, the seemingly endless task of weeding, the unpredictability of it all… small family farmers are pretty amazing.
