These are the musings from The Happy Hoe Herb Farm and of the woman who took a chance to create a new reality; a business born out of a love for playing in the dirt and fertilized by a midlife crisis. Presented with a wonderful opportunity to change my course in the pursuit of money and happiness, I will be happy just finding the road to one of them.
Wherever I go, I grow. I am the crazy person you see driving down the road who can barely see out of the windows because the car is chockfull of plants. I’m the Johnny Appleseed of herbs, digging up plants to take to my new homes; scattering seeds along the way. I have planted gardens in Alaska and up and down both sides of Washington State for the past 25 years. And true to my nature, I brought rosemary, chives, and feverfew to my new home here in Darrington, Washington.
Darrington is a small mountain community about 1 ½ hours NE of Seattle with gorgeous views and a population of 1300. We have no McDonalds or strip malls. We do have 2 bars, a liquor store, and a hardware store. Okay, so we do have an IGA grocery store too where you can spend $4 for butter. Darrington is home to the NW Bluegrass Festival and our claim to fame is that Bob Barker was born here. Cue the banjo music and come on down!
So what brought me here? A man…and an offer I couldn‘t refuse. One day the question was posed, "If you could do anything for work, what would you want to do?" "Start an herb farm" was the first thing that popped in my head. I had been working the last 10 years as a real estate assistant (envision "The Devil Wears Prada" but without trips to Paris or designer shoes) and I was stressed to the point of being homicidal. My long distance beau suggested I move to Darrington and take a sabbatical from working the 9 to 5. A sabbatical…in the mountains…working on a little herb farm? How idyllic! I would either be a fool to pass up the opportunity or a fool to jump at it. So call me a jumping fool. In the fall of 2009, I dug up some plants, packed up the dog, and headed to the mountains to create The Happy Hoe Herb Farm.
I had always joked that my goal in life was to be the crazy woman in the woods and at 44, I met my goal!
Wherever I go, I grow. I am the crazy person you see driving down the road who can barely see out of the windows because the car is chockfull of plants. I’m the Johnny Appleseed of herbs, digging up plants to take to my new homes; scattering seeds along the way. I have planted gardens in Alaska and up and down both sides of Washington State for the past 25 years. And true to my nature, I brought rosemary, chives, and feverfew to my new home here in Darrington, Washington.
Darrington is a small mountain community about 1 ½ hours NE of Seattle with gorgeous views and a population of 1300. We have no McDonalds or strip malls. We do have 2 bars, a liquor store, and a hardware store. Okay, so we do have an IGA grocery store too where you can spend $4 for butter. Darrington is home to the NW Bluegrass Festival and our claim to fame is that Bob Barker was born here. Cue the banjo music and come on down!
So what brought me here? A man…and an offer I couldn‘t refuse. One day the question was posed, "If you could do anything for work, what would you want to do?" "Start an herb farm" was the first thing that popped in my head. I had been working the last 10 years as a real estate assistant (envision "The Devil Wears Prada" but without trips to Paris or designer shoes) and I was stressed to the point of being homicidal. My long distance beau suggested I move to Darrington and take a sabbatical from working the 9 to 5. A sabbatical…in the mountains…working on a little herb farm? How idyllic! I would either be a fool to pass up the opportunity or a fool to jump at it. So call me a jumping fool. In the fall of 2009, I dug up some plants, packed up the dog, and headed to the mountains to create The Happy Hoe Herb Farm.
I had always joked that my goal in life was to be the crazy woman in the woods and at 44, I met my goal!
