3 MINUTE READ
There’s a beauty in creating something from nothing. Grayson Crane has tapped into this beauty through farming - creating nourishment for the community from the raw earth. Grayson established Pink Moon Farm as an organic farm where the animals, plants, and people interact in a sustainable and collaborative system that nurtures the land rather than extract from it.
Building for the Community
Grayson is aiming to “push the edge” of inclusive farming. Not only does the farm operate through regenerative agricultural practices and a community-building approach, Grayson, being an out-transgender farmer, aims to create an open and accepting environment for other members of the LGBTQ+ community to experience the joy and beauty of farming.
This focus on building this open environment for the queer community is key to Pink Moon’s business model; “It means thinking creatively about business structures. We offer a discount for other trans folks for our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and we have been lucky enough to have employees and workers who typically share some form of identity around being trans. This is great because it's not often that folks from our communities can have supportive workplaces where their employer or other people around them share their identities.”
Grayson’s overall philosophy is one of capacity-building. He shares resources and information with other co-operative farms, a practice Grayson notes has been necessary during COVID, “The answer is not within one of us, but many of us.”
The farm also cultivates mutually beneficial interactions between farm animals and food production. For example, Pink Moon Farm is home to a flock of Icelandic sheep with multiple jobs: their double-coated fleece provides a unique fiber that the farm sells online, the sheep’s manure is used as compost, and their teeth act as mowers for the grass!
With this solid ecosystem, the soil on the farm is able to produce healthy, organic produce that is delivered throughout the Puget Sound area in a 20 week CSA box from June to October. Grayson adds: “…what the farm does, and I think what we do well is integrating animals and vegetables together in a way that we're really starting to see a lot of soil improvement, and an increase in the quality and quantity of produce that we've been able to put out.”
Giving Yourself to the Land
While working on other farms, Grayson realized it was a life and work style he wanted to pursue himself and purchased land near Mt. Rainier. “…exploring and being amongst trees and animals and things has always been something I've been drawn to. I got into farming probably about 10 or so years ago. I really just loved the work. I loved the physicality of it. I loved the generosity that you can express through food and eating and sharing food with people. And, the community building part of it.”
He turned to Business Impact NW for business coaching sessions and bookkeeping classes through our Recovery Ready Program. “My goal is to build this business in a way that is both environmentally sustainable, financially sustainable and creates meaningful on-ramps for folks who are in my community that want access to farming.
At Business Impact NW, we are dedicated in continuing to support small businesses with a big community impact like Pink Moon Farm.
Visit Pink Moon Farm for more information, CSA sign-ups, and more adorable photos of sheep.
Join us for Celebrating Dreams 2021 on May 27th, 2021 to hear more Recovery Ready case studies during the event!
