Soil to Soul: Why live and farm at Rooted Northwest?

 By Steffi Wehner

When my husband Don and I are on a road trip, inevitably one of us says “this wasn’t here the last time we drove by”, referring to yet another forest lost to a strip mall and another family farm made into a housing development. While the need for more housing is obvious, due in part to our Washington State becoming a climate refugee destination,  where will our food come from?

Don and I started River Raven Herbs, a therapeutic and culinary herb farm, here at Rooted Northwest to ensure the survival of at-risk plants, educate about local herbs and their properties, and plant popular medicinals like Ashwagandha, so they don’t have to travel so far from where they’re grown to where they’re needed. We couldn’t do this without our Rooted Northwest community. Farmland is scarce and unaffordable. As new farmers without generational wealth we wouldn’t be able to afford a tractor or a walk-in cooler. In addition, we are early retirees entering our “wisdom years” (read: achy backs) and literally couldn’t do all the physical labor required at times. Helping each other out is my absolute favorite reason to farm here, that and the access to fresh, local, seasonal food.

At this writing, Rooted Northwest is home to nine farms, with room for more. Farming here is not a prerequisite to homeownership or vice versa. We share infrastructure, have our own businesses, and govern our shared resources collaboratively. For the first time this year (2025) we are offering the joined The Farms at Rooted CSA, featuring seasonal vegetables and herbs, with options to add teas, eggs, flowers, and pork. 

While none of the farms have chosen to pursue organic certification so far, we farm organically and keep our land organic-ready for future farmers who may choose to pursue the certification. Part of our mission as farmers and members at Rooted Northwest is to steward the land. We rotate our crops, plant cover crops on fallow land, conserve water, plant windrows and pollinator meadows, rewild the forest, tend the riparian zones, and are on a never-ending quest to balance our coexistence with the Himalayan blackberries so pervasive in this region.

Jenn (above) owns Midgarden Farm here at Rooted Northwest together with her brother Jesse (not pictured). They offer seasonal veggies, eggs, and pork shares. Jenn, mother of two human children and 45 laying hens, says: “Family and farming go hand in hand. The lessons I teach my children in the field will nourish their minds as much as the food we grow nourishes their bodies.”

Brett with Reconnecting Roots, the first vegetable farmer at Rooted Northwest, who lives with his wife, daughters, and two miniature cows adjacent to Rooted Northwest, farms here “for the opportunity to work alongside and collaborate with other farmers who share common values and have a passion for creating a diversified farming hub that is an integral part of the local food system.”

Living on a working farm is a draw for people who aren’t farmers as well: food security, community, access to nature, are just a few of the reasons, not to mention the opportunity to get exercise while helping your farmer friends.

Kathy, who plans to live here with her dogs and explore breeding farm horses, is looking forward to living not just at any farm, but at Rooted Northwest specifically, because Rooted NW’s values align with hers.

Lissa, a nurse, empty nester, and future resident, cares about where her family’s food comes from “We appreciate small-scale regenerative farms and want to be sure they continue to exist. Beyond that we like the people (farmers and other friends) in the Rooted NW community.”

Kim, a green realtor who is looking forward to living the seven-generation promise, says: “ When I look out the window of my future home, I want to see wildlife and living flora and fauna throughout the four seasons.”

Does this sound like you? Maybe you’ll become a Rooted Northwest member yet? Join us at our next info session via Zoom.

Attended an Info Session already? Take the next step and email us to set-up a tour of the land.  Contact us or send email to [email protected].