1 week Ago
I’m writing to express my gratitude to the incredible collection of farmers in the Southwest Washington region I call home. After years of moving from place to place, the one thing that has always grounded me is the land and a desire to work with it. For the past five years, I’ve been a farmer in Washington and Colorado.
Growing food alongside others who do the same has been the most meaningful experience of my life. I feel exceedingly lucky to have been able to learn this work. Farming has taught me the extreme end of patience, resilience and the strange joy of hard-earned mistakes.
I’m thankful for the time I harvested the wrong beans and ruined a winter crop and the subsequent lesson on precision. I’m thankful for 6 a.m.
start times to avoid heat domes, the multitude of lectures on maintaining efficiency in the field, and the endless weeding that comes with growing good food. Of course, there are parts I’m less thankful for — near heat exhaustion, harvesting during wildfire smoke and horrible air quality index, and the physical and emotional toll of it all. But even in those moments, one thing remained true: community.
I farm because I believe in taking care of my community, the same way that they have taken care of me. I’ve been helped by neighbors, housed during disasters, mentored by farm bosses, and welcomed into a network that feeds people not just physically, but emotionally too. That’s why I want to highlight one of the best ways you can support this community: the Harvest Box subscription through the Southwest Washington Food Hub.
The Hub is a 35-member farmer-owned cooperative, created in the summer of 2020 to strengthen our local food system. Its mission is simple but vital — connect community members with local food and the farmers who grow it. The Harvest Box is a 15-week summer subscription filled with produce grown right here in our region.
Every week, you’ll receive a fresh, seasonal variety of vegetables, hand-harvested by farmers who likely share a similar sentiment as me — people who care deeply about the land and those who eat from it. It's one of the most direct, impactful ways you can support local farms and keep your food dollars in our economy. When you subscribe, you’re not just buying vegetables.
You’re investing in local jobs, environmental sustainability, and community resilience. You’re helping farmers do what they love and what they do best: grow real food for real people. If you’ve ever wanted to eat more locally, live more intentionally or support your neighbors, consider signing up for a Harvest Box.
In my lived experience, food tastes better when I know it has been grown with intention. Feeding our neighbors is beautiful science and art that only a select few are capable of accomplishing. Thank you for your time, and thank you to the farmers who make it all possible.
I hope we can all love our community enough to eat its delicious bounty. Sarah Quenemoen Olympia.
