193. Ellen Scheffer and Ashley Wilson on Finding Humor in Farming

What do you do when you don’t have a tractor, your van lights on fire, and it rains 68 inches a year?! You can learn from today’s guests how to find the humor in it all and persevere! Today, we’re happy to be hosting Ellen Scheffer and Ashley Wilson, Founders of Frisky Girl Farm, located in North Bend, Washington. Ellen and Ashley joined forces in 2016 to run City Grown Seattle, and now these two are growing big with Frisky Girl Farm. Frisky Girl Farm believes in growing healthy food to build healthy bodies. They strive to bring the freshest sustainable produce to all of their members and want everyone to enjoy eating tasty food grown with the earth in mind. Join us today to hear all about how Ellen and Ashley run a thriving farm and have a great time doing it! You’ll hear: How Ashley and Ellen get started in farming 1:42 How they come up with the name for the farm 4:58 How Frisky Girl Farm goes about marketing 5:45 What they do to ensure the survival of the farm’s tunnels 18:14 How they found the property to farm on 23:49 Frisky Girl Farm salad fest 28:47 Growing and selling flowers at Frisky Girl Farm 38:31 How Ellen and Ashley divide roles on the farm 42:12 Why 2020 was a rough start for Frisky Girl 50:19 Ellen and Ashley’s favorite farming tools 52:35 Ashley and Ellen’s advice to aspiring or newer farmers 54:51 About the Guests: Frisky Girl Farm is an 8-acre, woman owned/operated vegetable and flower farm in North Bend, WA entering its 4th growing season. They use sustainable growing practices to grow fresh, healthy food for their community. Farmers Ellen and Ashley, along with a small but mighty team, grow over 40 varieties of vegetables and 20 varieties of flowers for their 200-member CSA, restaurants, the North Bend Farmers Market and their roadside farm stand. They believe in growing food that is good for people and the planet; never use any synthetic pesticides, herbicides, or fertilizers, and practice organic techniques such as composting, crop rotation and cover cropping. This season, they are adding an additional three acres of growing space where they plan to operate a U-Pick sunflower patch and pumpkin patch. Resources: Website: https://www.friskygirlfarm.com/  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FriskyGirlFarm  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/friskygirlfarm/    The Thriving Farmer Podcast Team would like to thank our amazing sponsor! At AgriGro, we know that, in today’s modern agriculture, our efforts can deplete life or add life. When you look for ways to add life, it is sustainable and makes everything work better. As a result, you will experience enhanced plant and soil health for crops, gardens, and turf, as well as improved animal health and environment for livestock and wildlife. Our products are all-natural, easy to use, and friendly to the soil and the plant, as well as the grower. AgriGro’s® formulations deliver essential plant nutrition along with an advanced prebiotic concentrate, which significantly increases the multitude of beneficial native microbial species already residing in the production environment. Through these environmentally sound technologies, we’re adding life to crop production, livestock, home, turf, and wildlife markets. You don’t have to be dependent on crop production efforts that deplete life… Just Add Life with AgriGro®.