This article was written by 21 Acres Farm Market Team Member, Jen Horner. Jen was raised on a farm in Iowa and loves growing and eating vegetables. 

One of the many reasons to shop in the 21 Acres Farm Market is that your purchases directly support local, small-scale agriculture right here in Woodinville and the Sammamish Valley. One of our neighbors we are lucky to source from is Songbird Haven Farm, which is located directly south of 21 Acres. Run by Noa Kay and Mark Albonizio, this wife and husband team actually got their start volunteering on the 21 Acres Farm before completing the practicum at Viva Farms in sustainable agriculture. With backgrounds in health, farming was a completely new adventure for the pair.

Transforming Communities

Songbird Haven Farm began in 2019 with the belief that, “The small everyday choices we make matter. And that we can transform our communities into places that are just, healthy, and beautiful through what we eat, where we purchase, how we interact, and when (often!) we voice our opinions.” – Noa Kay

Located on a half-acre in the Sammamish Valley on the ancestral land of the Coast Salish people, Noa and Mark grow more than 100 varieties of vegetables, herbs and flowers including lettuce, kale, chard, dried beans, cabbage, escarole and cucumbers. Using no-till methods and organic growing practices, they are supporting soil health, climate resiliency and providing habitat for birds and beneficial insects. And they consistently produce some of the most beautiful vegetables we receive in our Market.

Community Supported Agriculture

In addition to supplying produce to our 21 Acres Farm Market, as well as other area markets and restaurants, Songbird Haven has a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program to share their goodies with consumers around the region. With both a summer and winter option, their CSA offers folks an opportunity to support a farm, receive the freshest, seasonal produce, plus a lesson in what to do with an abundance of beets. If you’ve never been a part of a CSA, it is a really delightful experience, and you should definitely try it.

Eat Local!

On her blog, Noa shared a few thoughts on the importance of eating locally and specifically the benefits of a CSA:

• Eat a lot of legumes! Snap peas, green (or yellow or purple) beans, fava beans, and dried beans all form relationships with bacteria that can fix nitrogen from the air. These bacteria convert the nitrogen into a form that plants can use.
• Every time you’re at a farmer’s market or supermarket, choose a vegetable or two that’s not in your normal rotation. May we suggest fava beans, pea shoots, escarole, fenugreek, edible flowers, or daikon radishes. Each one of these lesser-known veggies plays an important role in our crop plan.
• Embrace local winter greens and shoots! It is vital to have living plants growing year-round to feed the soil microbes. Winter hearty greens like cabbage, cauliflower, purple sprouting broccoli, spinach, collard greens, kale, chard, escarole, and mustard greens do not always get top billing. But these plants deserve credit for all their winter photosynthesis. Many of the other “winter” crops like squash and potatoes are actually harvested at the end of the summer and stored.

Songbird Haven Farm produce can be found year-round in the 21 Acres Farm Market. Stop by and grab yourself something new or an old favorite (I know a few of you are crazy for the kale). Every time you buy from a featured farm of the month, you will be entered to win a gift certificate in the Farm Market. See you soon!