Sustainable Farming at
Frog Chorus Farm

We farm 20 acres in northwestern Washington state, USA. We use and encourage sustainable farming methods throughout our operation. This website is a collection of topic pages and articles about those methods: why we use them, how they work, and how they help ensure farming profits both now and in the future.

Why Sustainable Farming?
We are referring to methods which protect and promote "The Three E's": Environmental, Economic and Ethical sustainability. A farm that chronically erodes the soil, consumes nonrewable resources, and/or takes advantage of the owners, the employees, the customers and/or the community, may survive for awhile. But not for very long. Long-term stability and profitability demand that farms be managed sustainably, so that they may be an asset to their families, their communities and their landscapes.

We make no claims to have perfected these methods. This is an ongoing process, not just for us but for anyone and everyone trying to farm sustainably. We aren't even particularly accomplished at it yet. Many of our web pages will talk about where we goofed up, what we did wrong, and what we're trying to fix. That's human, an that's natural. All our most respected teachers and mentors along the line have told us repeatedly that we'll never "arrive" at sustainability. At best, we'll only get better at it over time.

So with one part excitement, two parts humility, three parts humor and seven parts patience, we hereby wish to share what we've learned along the way. All our web pages, all our blog entries, all the books and articles and PDF downloads you'll find on this website will have that sustainable farming philosophy as a foundation. We hope that by collecting and presenting as much solid information as we can, your questions about sustainable farming will be answered. Tour around our website, and please feel free to send us any questions you may have. We hope you enjoy your visit!

March On The Farm
March is when so many changes occur. New livestock babies arrive. The pastures start to grow. The earliest of the garden plants break through the ground and green up. The bees come forth on nicer days, busy with their housecleaning duties after being cooped up all winter. The salmonberry blossoms appear, in all their hot pink glory. The hens start laying in earnest again. And the days slowly but surely become longer than the nights. Spring arrives, and with it a new year's worth of promise and work.

A farmer's schedule starts to get crazy about this time every year. But it's invigorating work. The weather isn't settled yet, and we have a multitude of cold, wet, blustery weather yet before us. But we start getting those one or two nice days when the sun comes up, the air feels nice, the first new scents of spring waft by, and birds start singing again. No matter the schedule or the to-do list, it's a wonderful time of year to be on the farm.

Our Mission:
* To provide a wide variety of fresh and wholesome produce, meat and dairy products, craft items and forestry products to our customers.

* To grow, raise or otherwise manufacture all our products via materials and methods which are environmentally sustainable, economically profitable and ethically responsible.

* To deliver excellent product quality and outstanding customer service to our farm's patrons.

* To demonstrate that the small diversified family farm can be a vibrant, rewarding lifestyle, a responsible citizen of the community and landscape, and a viable economic enterprise.

* To share what we've learned about what works, what doesn't, and why, so that others may improve their own environmental, economic and ethical sustainability.