Meet Our Vendors: Hell or High Water Farm
Image Credit: Kevin Helfrick
“We do a little bit of a lot of stuff,” Kevin Helfrick says, describing his farm, Hell or High Water. Their 7-acre farm produces vegetables, dahlias, pastured chicken and duck eggs, and pastured meat chickens. Kevin and his family run the farm together. He does the majority of the planting, harvesting, and cultivation, while his wife, Desirée supports the farm through crop planning, plant propagation, and CSA coordination.
Kevin says that, even though they have a variety of produce on their farm, their customers know them best for their pastured eggs. One customer compared trying to find eggs at a farmers market to trying to snag Rolling Stones concert tickets; you have to act fast or you’re out of luck.
Hell or High Water Farm has operated their CSA since 2016. Their pastured eggs are a key feature of their CSA boxes, which really take the “little bit of everything” mentality to heart. The boxes are full of a wide variety of goodies from their farm and a few partner farms, like Fantello Creamery. CSA Shares include pastured eggs, pastured chicken, cheese, veggies, meats, and a bouquet of flowers to top it all off.
The pandemic shutdowns of 2020 caused a lot of farms who had never done CSAs before to try them. The start of the pandemic brought on a boom in business, with many people trying to find new ways to support their local farmers. One of the best parts of running a CSA is the community that comes from it. The CSA members truly become a part of the farm family, sharing in the ups and downs as they come. It’s one of the things that Kevin loves most about being a farmer.
Kevin hasn’t always been a farmer. Kevin had some limited experience with raising chickens and gardening when he was a child in Alaska. He put all of that behind him for life in the city where he worked as a radio engineer and in electronics. Eventually, in the backyard of their home in Wallingford, Kevin decided to give it another try. Kevin and Desirée quickly realized that it was more than just a backyard hobby for them.
“A part of me yearned for that small-town, simple life,” Kevin says. He took the leap of faith and enrolled in Seattle Tilth’s Farm Works program in Auburn, Washington and began learning organic farming practices with other like-minded folks on ¼ acre plots.
From there, their farm business grew. They moved to The Cart before Horse Farm in Enumclaw and started leasing out farmland of their own. They started attending local farmers markets, doing online orders at drop sites, and built out their extensive CSA. Farming has been a process of learning, growing, and getting better every year for them.
You can try some of Kevin’s pastured eggs, and other goodies at the Capitol Hill Farmers Market, this Sunday from 11-3!