Food and land
More about what we do
More than a farm.
Ayeko Farm sits on 21 acres of land along the Newaukum Creek. This land was home to and stewarded by the Muckleshoot, Coast Salish, Duwamish, and Puyallup tribes for many thousands of years before settlers-colonizers arrived. Over the last 150 years the treaties protecting the original stewards of this land have been disregarded, the area has been deforested, wetlands have been drained, and salmon populations have declined. The land has been used for cattle pasture for the past nearly 100 years. In 2018, we began to grow fruits and vegetables, replant native trees and other pollinator and habitat plants, and start to bring community out. The farm has over 1,000 ft. of Newaukum Creek frontage, a creek which crosses the Enumclaw Plateau and empties into the Green River. The salmon are struggling to survive in a creek where they once thrived. Ayeko Farm is working to put all of the creek frontage into a native buffer that will allow native plants to thrive, and contribute to lowering the temperature of the creek so that hopefully soon, salmon will return in abundance.
We aim to learn more about the practices of the communities who cared for this land for millennia. We see ourselves as stewards of the land and waters and strive to be in right relationship to the original people and to the thousands of sibling creatures we share this land with.
“The moment we choose to love, we begin to move against domination, against oppression. The moment we choose to love, we begin to move toward freedom, to act in ways that liberate ourselves and others.”
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We host school field trips, home school groups, and tours. We will work with you to tailor the experience you want with your group. Reach out to discuss curriculum and rates.
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Ayeko Farm grows and experiments with vegetables that are not as commonly grown in the PNW that reflect our cultural traditions such as amaranth, bottle gourd, long bean, okra, fenugreek leaf, and even peanuts. We also grow kale, chard, lettuce, carrots, beets, corn, potatoes, tomatoes, and more. When a visitor comes to the farm and tastes something in the field and says, this reminds me of back home, we know we are doing something right. Come to the farm to pick up produce. And stay tuned for our online store!
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We are available for contracts to support food systems projects such as non-profit program design, research, evaluation, and more. Reach out for more details, references, and rates.
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We are currently involved in a project to reforest along the Newaukum Creek, one the most important tributaries to Green River and what was once a thriving salmon habitat. While the salmon do run every other fall, we know that replanting the forest and caring for it will make it an even better habitat for the salmon as well as thousands of other sibling creatures. We are also planting nearly one acre of pollinator plants along our vegetable fields and hope to see so manhy beings come back home here.
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Ayeko Farm is invovled in local advocacy work to move forward transformation of our food system. We are part of the founding group and Advisory Committee of the PNW BIPOC Land Trust which aims to make more land available to BIPOC farmers in the PNW region.
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Host your next event here! We host retreats, campouts, meetings, parties and other types of events. Reach out to discuss details, dates, and rates.
