Ma Cha of Children's Garden

Welcome to Children's Garden

Located in the lushly green Snoqualmie River Valley Children’s Garden grows beautiful flowers and fresh row crops for farmers markets. Fong and Ma Cha have been on this farmland for nearly twenty years and are dedicated to its long term health and fertility, as well as providing a safe habitat for local fish and wildlife.

Products Available

Cilantro, cucumber, corn, green onions, greens, lettuce, sweet onions, snap and sugar peas, strawberries, summer squash, and flowers

Growing Philosophy

"Our ability to continue farming is dependent on community support. Many of us do not own the land that we farm. We need to be economically successful so that one day we can buy and own the land we farm."

Low Impact Stewardship

Children’s Garden uses no commercial fertilizers, and supplements the soil with cow manure, silage compost, and tilled-in crop stubble. Fong is expanding his use of certified organic materials to control pests when needed, using non-toxic insecticidal soap that discourages insects. He is using a grass cover crop between his flower rows to control weeds rather than tilling or hoeing and hopes this innovative method saves him valuable time.

Protecting the Stream

Fong takes great care to protect the stream that runs through his farm. This stream feeds into the Snoqualmie, a salmon and trout-bearing watershed. He has established vegetated buffer zones to keep inputs away from the water as even organic materials are not always agreeable to fish

A Keeper of the Forest

More than half of Children’s Garden remains in forest land that is inhabited by a multitude of birds and mammal life. Fong has some problems with deer that come to feed on his sweet strawberries. He uses a natural remedy, acquiring and spreading coyote urine scent, which seems to work pretty well.