In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Ellen from Frisky Girl Farm in Fall City, Washington. Ellen got her start in agriculture after a college class reshaped how she thought about the food system, which led her to work on farms across the country before eventually co-founding her own operation in the Seattle area.

In this conversation, Ellen shares the story of building Frisky Girl Farm from a half-acre urban farm into a five-acre production, and the challenges that came with it—losing infrastructure to wind, dealing with crop damage from wildlife, and ultimately making the decision to leave that land behind. We get into how those experiences shaped the next chapter of the farm and what it looks like to scale up through a merger with Steel Wheel Farm in the Snoqualmie Valley.

We also talk through their unique CSA model that gives customers more flexibility in what they receive each week, along with the realities of marketing and selling food as a small farm. Ellen shares insights on organic growing practices, year-round production in the Pacific Northwest, and the balance between collaboration and competition within the local farming community.

You can find out more about what Ellen and her team are putting together and how to sign up for their CSA box at Frisky Girl Farm: North Bend's finest vegetable & flower farm

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In this episode of Talkin’ Dirt, I sit down with Jack from Farmer Jack’s Garden in the Yakima Valley. Jack has spent a lifetime around agriculture, starting on a cattle and grain farm in northeastern Washington and continuing that work through decades of growing his own food at home.

In this conversation, Jack shares how gardening stayed with him through a full career in law enforcement, eventually turning into a small-scale operation where he and his wife Diann sold grapes, popcorn on the cob, and hundreds of pounds of beets each year directly to their community. We get into how that all came together and what it looks like to build something like that over time.

We also talk through soil health, natural growing methods, and the systems Jack has developed over the years to grow productive crops without relying on chemicals. He shares practical insights on irrigation, composting, pest management, and what it takes to consistently grow good food in a dry climate like the Yakima Valley.

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In this episode of Talkin' Dirt, I sit down with Andre Entermann. Andre runs Sunnyfield Farm with his wife out on Lopez Island, where they’ve been building a small-scale goat dairy focused on thoughtful, hands-on production.

In this conversation, Andre shares how years of traveling and working on organic farms eventually led him to settle on Lopez and start farming for himself. We get into the realities of dairying goats, the process of making cheese, and the amount of work that goes into turning milk into something you’re proud to sell.

We also talk through the tension between traditional cheesemaking and modern food safety regulations in the U.S.—how pasteurization, testing requirements, and state-by-state rules shape what small producers are able to do, and what can get lost along the way. We get into herd management, the role of community on the island, and what it takes to keep a small farm running in a way that’s actually sustainable.

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