Start Small, Grow Tall

“Building small-scale farms that support the community around them and the land they operate on'“ was the presentation by Hannah Andersen at the South Whidbey Tilth Annual Membership Meeting on January 10, 2026. Hannah is the outreach and education coordinator with the Whidbey Island Conservation District.

Hannah describes her presentation:

Ask a member of the general public what a modern farm looks like and you might be met with this image: Rolling fields of produce, tractors equipped with direct sowing machines and tillers, multi-person teams of agricultural workers and silos full of grain. But is this generalization a true representation of the farms that keep our food systems resilient and the land healthy? We'll explore some of the alternative farm plans, community initiatives, creative enterprises and conservation practices that are reinventing farming in North America and the ways each of us can participate. (Hint, it might reinvent your backyard.)