New Vashon Island farm specializing in Asian greens coming to Seattle-area markets

When Steven Hsieh tweeted in March that Tian Tian Farm would be bringing its specialty Chinese, Korean and Japanese vegetable crops to Ballard Farmers Market this year, he was surprised by the excited response – and more than 700 likes. But it also confirmed to him and his business partner Elizabeth Whitman that they were not alone in their frustration with the current opportunities to buy the products they had grown up with.

“The only place you can buy them in Seattle is in Uwajimaya or in Asian markets,” he says. “I just want to see more Asian vegetables at the farmer’s market.” They’ll be selling their organic-style (though not certified organic) vegetables at Ballard Farmers Market on May 23rd, and will add Tacoma’s Eastside Market in June.

The support was gratifying for them and a confirmation for the two former journalists who were looking for a change. Whitman previously worked on farms and they shared an interest in it so they set out to practice on farms in Oregon to learn the ropes. It was there that Hsieh found his passion for selling the products he had grown directly to the customer and together they focused on the idea of ​​focusing on Asian vegetables. “Every market has fresh kale,” says Whitman. “It would be nice to have that option with Asian vegetables.” Growing up with a Chinese mother, she looked forward to bringing to market fresh, locally grown foods from her own childhood like Asian eggplants.

They made their way north to Seattle, where they both had connections – Hsieh had lived here before, and Whitman had a family that lived here. They found half an acre of land to lease on Vashon – where no one had been before. The structures on the property date from the early 1900s which have old apple trees and a history as pastureland. They called it Tian Tian, ​​which means “daily” in Mandarin, and went to work growing vegetables such as gai lan, bok choy, mizuna, beets, and celtuce. The couple shout out over favorites like komatsuna and tender pea sprouts. Later in the year, they hope to pick Korean peppers to accompany their Napa cabbage and daikon radish harvests as a local do-it-yourself kim chi set.

Steven Hsieh harvests Gai Lan, also known as Chinese broccoli

Courtesy Steven Hsieh / Tian Tian Farm

But they are careful not to count their plants before they sprout. “It’s the first year,” says Whitman. “We start from scratch, everything from the beginning.” Previously, the farm had been leased to the Vashon Food Bank and farmed in their free time, so that the soil quality and infrastructure were in place, although pieces of greenhouse glass were found all over the field, which had to be tended carefully and with heavy gloves. As first time farmers, they say they made a lot of mistakes and need to learn in no time how to build a tire house and set up irrigation. The biggest challenge for Whitman and Hsieh, however, was not the literal groundbreaking, but the theoretical one.

“There is so much data for cauliflower and kale yields, but not for chrysanthemum greens,” says Hsieh. While planting, they struggled to plan without knowing how much seeds to buy or what their crops might be. Instead, they looked for similar information about its closest western counterpart and guessed. “It’s a very imperfect approach.” It showed once again how necessary their work is.

They are gathering what data they can collect this year and look forward to the next and next year if they hope that this part of the project will be easier. For now, however, they’re finally getting to the good part. “It’s really rewarding to see how it happens,” says Whitman as he watches their crops pop out of the mud. “It sounds simple, but we put in hours and labor and the plants grow.” Most important, however, is what it will grow and where it will sell. “Gai Lan is not something that everyone focuses on,” says Hsieh. “But it deserves to be fresh and local, just like traditional western broccoli.”