May 09 2020 33 mins 1
Jessica Gigot and her family own Harmony Fields located in the Skagit Valley, Washington. They make artisan farmstead sheep cheese and also grow organic herbs. Their mission is to produce nutritious, high-quality food using organic and ecological farming techniques. In this fifth episode, recorded prior to the impacts of COVID-19, Jessica shares important lessons that seem even more critical today. She discusses Harmony Field’s relationships with a local wholesale food hub, the creation of a cheese CSA, and other efforts toward a resilient regional food system. You’ll hear how food hubs promote efficiencies for both the farmer and the consumer and the importance for small farms to have different marketing outlets. “Farming is humbling, invigorating, and a very creative process,” says Jessica. As she and her family continue to learn important lessons about animal health, soil health, and crop management, they are striving for self-sufficiency through a closed loop system. Jessica also discusses her SARE-funded on-farm research and demonstration project looking at how sheep grazing impacts soil and potato crops. You can read more about her project's results on the SARE website.
