When we set out to start growing our own food, we were overwhelmed with how much we didn't know. There are so many different kinds of compost: mushroom, cow, plant, horse, etc. And then there are bags of top soil, potting soil, square foot soil, perlite, vermiculite, fertilizer, pesticides, and so forth. What of these (if any) do you actually need for a garden to produce healthy food?

So we did a deep dive on gardening, and specifically organic gardening because we thought that was the direction we wanted to go. What we found shocked us. Almost all the compost sold by nurseries in Spokane can be traced back to one company: Barr-Tech. And Barr-Tech's compost is made from Spokane's yard waste, food waste, and biosolids (aka human waste), and then cooked to high heavens so that no beneficial microbials are actually left in the soil. Even more disturbing, this is the compost considered "certified organic" and acceptable for organic farms to use. The last thing we want in trying to be free of the food system is to grow in compost that is the lump sum of the food system. So we searched high and low for a nursery carrying a large supply of compost NOT from Barr-Tech and couldn't find any. That led us to a momentary existential crisis. We knew what we didn't want to do, but we had no idea how to pull off what we did want to do.

Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately) this has been a common predicament for us. We find that when you have very limited funds and resources, a lot of options are quickly eliminated and it forces resourcefulness (like transporting livestock in a minivan because you don't have a trailer). So we turned to the place we often do: Craigslist. And we found an ad by an old cowboy that has been making compost for a good portion of his life the good old fashioned way: time and turning. He had beautiful five year aged horse manure and when we laid eyes on it, it was as if we'd discovered gold. We made about 15 trips our first year to build our 1/4 acre garden and then another 35-40 truck loads the second year when we expanded to an acre. We had to unload every 2,000 lb load by shovel. It's safe to say it was probably one of the longest and hardest ways to build a market garden, but we pulled it off in early Spring with plenty of time to start planting. And the proof of our labor was in the fruit: our garden was something of an Eden. Very quickly, beneficial pollinators we had never seen began showing up and our garden was bursting with color, food, and life. And we did it all without a single pesticide, artificial fertilizer, or chemical touching our soil. Fast forward to today, and we now grow and store well over 70% of our total food supply from our land, as well as supplying over 40 households a month with fresh produce during the season (and restaurants and florists too!).

So now, on the other side, we know first hand how hard it is to get started. We searched high and low for a local class that offered this style of gardening and couldn't find one. And that's why we're here today. We see the problem and we have the solution. We're not interested in trying to grow as much food as possible for sale. We want to help you grow an abundant garden of nutrient dense food yourself. To experience the joy of growing what you can't buy in stores, the pride of feeding your loved ones from the fruit of your labor, and the peace that comes with having that skillset in place if times get hard(er). And most of all, we'd love to help you do it with a lot less of the time, frustration and pitfalls that come with learning by trial and error on your own.

Here are a few key things we've learned & would like to share:
1. There's no such thing as a green thumb (which implies that gardening is like singing or painting - a skill you're born with or without). It's not! It's actually a lot more like building a house or baking bread. Anyone can garden with the right tools and information.

2. You don't need a farm or a bunch of acreage at your disposal to establish food security. We have a family of 13 and could make a huge dent in our yearly food supply with 1-3,000 sq ft of garden space. In fact, our entire farm and house could fit into 3 acres!

3. You can go from no experience to growing like a professional in just a few years with the right training and willingness to creatively source supplies. How do we know? We went from a tiny backyard garden to a one acre market garden and successful CSA in 3 years.

We are looking for people whose goal for the year is to start growing their own food, establishing food security, and learning about food storage. If this description fits you, and you have a strong desire and willingness to learn and then go home and grow, we hope to see you in class!