Meghan Mix is hopping around garden plots in Jefferson County and cultivating her business, Hopscotch Farm and Cannery.
She’s growing fresh produce in unused garden space owned by friends, …
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Meghan Mix is hopping around garden plots in Jefferson County and cultivating her business, Hopscotch Farm and Cannery.
She’s growing fresh produce in unused garden space owned by friends, because she can’t yet find or afford land.
“This is kind of a trial year for me,” she said.
Mix is hoping to move into selling canned goods next spring, and in the meantime, is experimenting with what she can grow and make. She’s looking forward to taking a class through Washington State University Jefferson County Extension that would guide her in a holistic approach to farming, she said.
SUSTAINABLE FARMING
Mix first became interested in gardening in 2005 when she lived in Portland, Oregon.
Down the street from her was a community garden. She didn’t know much about gardening or farming, but she practiced sustainability.
“That community garden really opened my eyes to food systems and production,” she said.
From Portland, Mix moved to rural southern Arizona. “That is actually where I got really interested in farming,” she said. She worked as a director of a nonprofit that focused on sustainable desert agriculture.
After spending time between Port Townsend and Arizona, she settled in Port Townsend, where she has worked at SpringRain Farm and Orchards in Chimacum, Mt. Townsend Creamery and at Eaglemount Wine & Cider, where she currently works part-time. She started her own farm last fall.
Currently she’s selling fresh produce to friends and family, and can be contacted through Facebook or Instagram, or by email at
hopscotchfarmandcannery@gmail.com.
A NEW NICHE
Mix said her goal is to grow produce for value-added projects, such as pickles, chutneys and preserves.
She has been canning for 10 years, she said, mostly for personal use.
Selling those goods involves regulations, so during her trial year she’s experimenting with what she can grow and trying out different recipes before starting a business.
Mix said that the “shelf-stable niche” is something that is underrepresented in Jefferson County right now, and she’s hoping that her businesses would be a way to make local foods available year-round.
“While we do have fresh produce year-round, there is a lot less available in the winter,” she said.
“It’s kind of a comforting thing to have locally produced goods [in the colder months].”
