Hi y’all, my name’s Darby Blake. I’ve been in the farming industry for about 6 years and I’m finally ready to start my own farm, High Tide Farm. I envision High Tide to be small-scale, intensive and low-till, as well as healthy for customers and the Earth. First things first, who the heck am I and why do I think it’s important to have as many of these businesses as possible?

I grew up just a normal city kid in Seattle knowing very little about plants or what makes them grow. I changed all that by going to Evergreen State College and spending two years learning on the farm they had on campus everything from soil science to business planning. After Evergreen I spent the next 5 years working nonprofit gardens, construction landscaping and carpentry, to eventually working and managing a successful production farm in Redmond supplying local restaurants and farmers markets.

Ever since I read The Market Gardener by Jean-Martin Fortier, I have planned to start my farm in the same style. While most of the country gets produce from huge [phone redacted] acre plots growing maybe two or 3 crops. Fortier focuses on ~1.5 acres growing 20-30 different crops. Conventional farms are simply too big to properly take care of their soil or care about every individual plant. They end up selling you a product that is less flavorful, less nutritious and extremely unhealthy for the planet. After years of these practices on the same land, the soil becomes almost barren forcing conventional farmers to be completely reliant on artificial fertilizers and toxic pesticides to grow anything. As a much smaller farm that relies on every bed to be healthy, I have to replenish the nutrients taken out of my ground each year with some good local compost so that my soil will continually improve as opposed to worsening. More farms like High Tide must start to take more market share from big agribusiness.

This is not a small farm that hopes to scrape together enough dollars to barely make it each year. This fundraiser will give me the jumping-off point to solidify High Tide Farm in the Seattle food industry for years to come. The business is here to lend some financial sovereignty to me, a person of color who’s worked with their hands all their life, driving profit for someone else's benefit. It’s important for me to start a business that can not only support me and give me a little comfort but also eventually can support other farmers of color to do the same thing; learn the ropes until they feel ready to make their own business. I will always pay above just a “living wage” which is extremely rare for farm work. Making that dream come true will take a ton of work and patience which I am more than ready to start.

I can make all this a reality with your support. The tools I need to start can be pretty pricey and since I’m a one-man show in the beginning I’m relying on efficiency, so I can compete with established farms. As the donations increase I will continually post updates on new tools and the site I choose so you all know exactly where your money is going. Thank you so much for even reading all of this and if you don’t or can’t donate today please support your local farmers by showing up and buying at farmers' markets.