About New Hannah Farm
Overview
New Hannah Farm is a small, diversified vegetable farm on the west side of San Juan Island, WA. We focus on growing high-quality produce for local residents and businesses and hope to serve as an educational resource for aspiring farmers. We are “community-certified organic” and use only OMRI listed products. We believe in full transparency and encourage our community to see our growing practices.
Our Mission
To cultivate community around local food and the continuous pursuit of quality, education, and sustainably on every level — physical, spiritual, economic, and ecological.
History
Soon after my family moved into our new house, my mom began to make plans for a family garden. To establish our plot, she sought the help of our neighbor, Vernon (Bernie) Hannah, who agreed to assist us with his backhoe. He refused to accept payment, but he did accept our offer to help him with various projects on his 163-acre farm. Over the years, our lives became intertwined and he became a part of our family. Together, we pressed cider, baled hay, gardened, and participated in various other farm work and projects.
Bernie eventually decided to leave his land and legacy to my family. When he passed away in 2012, we had to quickly navigate the steep learning curve of managing land responsibly.
In 2017, my parents helped me establish a tiny, informal market garden and I began selling vegetables to a small handful of friends and neighbors. Even though I wasn't advertising at all, I was soon receiving dozens of referrals with requests to sign up for my mailing list. As this list grew rapidly, so did our operation — our single 6,000-square-foot garden turned into two acres of vegetable production.
In 2019, we debuted our official business as "New Hannah Farm" and began selling online to island residents and local businesses. Today, we are still working to honor Bernie’s wishes for the land — that it stays intact and that it remains a working farm.
Zachary Chan (The Farmer)
I’ve lived on San Juan Island since I was three-years-old.
I first became curious about farming after attending Evergreen State College in 2012. There, I studied the meaning of freedom and its relationship to self-responsibility, education, fearlessness, and one’s ability to be more “awake in life.”
In 2015, I started a six-month internship at Nootka Rose Farm, a 4-acre mixed market garden on Waldron Island, WA, where I learned how to grow high quality produce with a limited supply of electricity and water. I also learned some techniques and strategies from other Waldron farms, including Blue Moon Produce and Thousand Flower Farm.
That summer, I realized that farming could be my life’s calling; all of my values, strengths, and interests seemed to converge on agriculture (specifically small-scale market gardening). It was also an opportunity for me to simultaneously serve my community, make a positive impact on the land, and build upon the ideas I gleaned during my time in college.
When the internship was over, I returned to the Hannah homestead, eager to apply my new training, honor Bernie’s gift, and launch a new Hannah farm.
My farm education and training (so far):
A weeklong work-stay at Nancy Hachisu’s farm in Japan (2014)
6-month internship at Nootka Rose Farm on Waldron Island, WA (2015)
5 day field workshop in Quebec with Jean-Martin Fortier (2018)
One day no-till workshop at Singing Frogs Farm in Sebastopol, CA (2019)