About

The Search

In 2008 we lived in Seattle with our two young children. Back then, our set-up included four laying hens and an ample garden in our once-paved planter strip. Craig worked as a landscape architect and Alice was (and is) self-employed doing writing and public relations for foundations and nonprofits.

While we should have been satisfied with our lives as they were, we knew something had to change. We wanted to grow more of our own food. More than that, we wanted to farm for a living. So, we set out on a journey to find out how to do that. We traveled to a remote farm in Corvallis, Oregon. We made a list of top ten places. We researched and we talked and talked. Then we made a decision.

Bainbridge Island was high on our list. It would offer a more rural setting with more potential for land. Most importantly we could move to Bainbridge and keep our current jobs.

The Big Move

In the summer of 2009 we sold our home in Seattle and by August had rented a lovely place on the south end of Bainbridge Island. Before long we began to get to know the wonderful community that calls the Island home, our flock of four hens grew to 15, we added a beehive and a garden, and learned to milk our neighbor’s goat and make our own cheese. We began to acquire a handful of enthusiastic egg customers along with a waiting list. We raised another flock of chickens for meat and turkeys for Thanksgiving. We filled our freezer with local meat and berries and canned for the winter. And all the time we were getting to know the growing network of farmers on the island.

Ever more satisfied with our efforts and seeing ever-greater fulfillment for ourselves and our young children, we began to create a business plan that detailed what a successful full-time farm effort might look like for us. Buying land was a roadblock, so we began to explore other options. We looked into leasing land and talked to neighbors about the potential to farm on their pastures.

An Unbelievable Opportunity

That’s when we learned about a couple, Ty and Steve, that had bought 25 acres with the intent to create a farm and add to Bainbridge Island’s trail system. They also wanted to create a children’s garden for the nearby elementary school and to put the land that had been historically farmed into a permanent farming conservation easement. And they had a vision of a young(er) couple managing the farm.

We sent them a proposal and eventually met them. The process over the next few months was a cross between dating and an extended interview. Fortunately, we all got along well. We, of course, were continually pinching ourselves to make sure that what was happening was real.

We continued to fine tune business plans and eventually worked out a contractual lease agreement wherein we would own the business and they would own the land. They would make a sizable investment into the startup and our charge would be to make the farm self supporting as quickly as possible.

A Farm Built on Community

So here we are stunned at the community that has risen to meet and join us in living our dream. There are groups like Friends of the Farms and farmers at the ready to help and people are excited to have another farm in the making that will add to our collective nourishment.

We couldn’t be more thrilled–or take this responsibility more seriously.

As people who try to live according to our values, and raise our two children in the same way, we are especially taken with the people and energy on Bainbridge Island and have a sense that we are in the right place at the right time to make a difference in our small corner of the world.