Wholly Locally Grown invites you to become a member and buy local in Western Washington!

We are offering a new approach to Farmers Markets, connecting local farmers and customers with the convenience of online ordering and the fresh products of our area. We believe that the small farm can make a difference and that the community can aid the small farm in this effort.

Wholly Locally Grown is an organization and a description. Customers receive food from farmers in our local area, with a minimum of time from the instant a carrot, for example, is plucked from the ground until it reaches the customer.

This market is for direct sales between local producers and local consumers. Wholly Locally Grown acts as a market facilitator, not an owner of the products.

• Enjoy convenient ordering from the comfort of your home computer by visiting The Market page.

• Know what you’re buying with information about the growers, their farming practices and their products on Our Growers page.

• Pick up your order at centrally located Happy Hen Farm on Wednesday between 4 pm and 7 pm.

Join today!

To join, create an account by going to the Your Account page of this website or contact Ora or Lee Jacobson (360) 273-8788 or happyhenfarm@earthlink.net.

Once you have an account you will be notified each Friday evening of what is available and you will be able to place your orders from 8:30 pm Friday to 8 am Monday.

Wholly Locally Grown is just starting up and we will grow and change. We’re happy to hear from you and we appreciate feedback with suggestions.

By buying fresh, locally produced foods you are supporting better health and promoting:

• a healthier planet through decreased dependence on the fossil fuels, chemicals, and the packaging needed to mass produce and ship foods long distances.

• a vibrant local economy through supporting local businesses.

• the continued survival of the family farm and an honest and worthy means of making a living.

Join us in nourishing your connection to your community, with food and hand-made products from local farmers and artisans!

How it works:

The online market is similar to the traditional ‘booths and tables’ farmers market. The customers are buying from the grower, at prices set by the grower. The grower describes what is available, supplies photos of the items, and sets the purchase price.

The customer has choices.

Just like at a traditional farmers market, the customer can browse everything that is available from all of the different growers. The customer can choose exactly what to buy, how much to buy, and from what grower to buy. You only order what you like, in the amounts that suit your needs, and you are not obligated to order every week.

To receive our emails, sign up on the Your Account page. You are required to make a deposit of $50 before placing your first order. Your deposit works as credit for your account, and your orders will be deducted from that. Available credit is noted on your invoice, and additional deposits will be required to maintain a credit balance.

The produce is harvested to order.

After 8 am Monday the growers are notified of all of their orders for the week. They harvest exactly what was ordered, package it, and deliver to the pick-up site. The produce is not coming from a shelf somewhere, but is coming straight from the field to the customer. Of course this doesn’t apply for some items. Garlic, for example, is often cured for a while before sale. Jams and other preserves may be made in batches. Honey is processed seasonally and then stored. Soap is made in batches. And so on.

The variety of crops will vary throughout the season. Since all we sell is locally grown, our offerings vary with the heat, cold, rain, insects and other unforeseeable circumstances. Typically any shortages are offset by the abundance of another crop.

Pick-up, payment and delivery.

The market, or ‘delivery day’ works very much like a traditional farmers market, except the products are pre-sold.

After the orders are assembled, they are brought to the pick-up spot at Happy Hen Farm, 8620 180th Way SW, Rochester. Payment is made at time of pick-up by cash or check; no credit cards can be accepted.

One aspect of this payment system is that if a customer places an order but for any reason does not arrive to pick it up, the customer is still responsible for paying for that order. Since everything is harvested to order, the growers still had to work to put the order together, and must therefore still get paid for that effort.

Delivery is available at the following delivery charges:
Rochester $2
Grand Mound $3
Centralia/Chehalis $5
Lacey/Olympia/Tumwater $5

Growers:

Growers will be able to pick fresh to order, and can drop off the food without having to wait for customers to show up. They will not have to return home with quantities of excess unsold produce.

Growers drop off orders between 8 am and 5 pm Tuesday or between 8 am and noon Wednesday.

Growers get their own ‘About’ page and a photo gallery, with unlimited photos and captions. If growers are certified USDA Organic or certified Naturally Grown, the logo and a link to more information is prominently displayed.

Growers set their own prices.

Posting products: Growers can organize product categories and list products, giving them full descriptions, images, prices, etc. Growers can quickly adjust availability, pricing, and other items at any time. There is no charge to growers to join or to post products. When a product is sold, the market will charge the grower a fee of 10% of selling price to cover the costs of running the market. The customer sees only the grower’s selling price.

The growers can keep track of the orders for their products in real time through the website (During the ordering period, quantities shown to the customers are automatically adjusted as orders are placed), but at the end of the ordering period, the website will send an email to each grower with a complete summary of orders placed.

Wholly Locally Grown acts as a broker and facilitator, and uses the 10% fee to cover all services. Services include:

Maintaining the internet resources for marketing and support
Handling the communication for each transaction
Overseeing the market day delivery process, including payments made to vendors and received from buyers, and all other expenses
Assisting growers in posting products, creating online profiles, labeling packages, and other tasks

Types of products:

Eligible: foods (fruits, vegetables, dairy, eggs, meat, seafood), seedlings, herbs, medicinal plants; value-added products; native plants, nursery plants, ornamentals; compost, soil amendments, and other gardening resources; local arts and crafts.

Ineligible: second hand, used, imported, offensive, illegal. Items prohibited by members may include genetically modified crops, certain types of chemicals, growth hormones, non-therapeutic antibiotics, irradiated foods.

Market growth:

We are on the lookout for new growers and customers for the market. If you or someone you know might be interested, see the Q’s & A’s section or reach us at 360-273-8788 or happyhenfarm@earthlink.net.