Goose and Gander Farm is Meredith Molli and Pat McGlothlin. Along with two employees and an intern, we sow, tend, harvest, wash and deliver every piece of produce from our farm.
Goose and Gander Farm grew out of a passion for cooking delicious food for the people around me. I grew up in rural northeast Ohio, surrounded by small family farms and learning to cook from my father. I cooked my way through school and never really questioned where my food came from— until a visit to the farmers market in Minneapolis. I was blown away by the farmers who gathered every Saturday to sell their beautiful meats and vegetables directly to customers.
I started volunteering for one of them, selling rabbit and pork, learning about pastured meats, and reforming how I would think about food for life. While I was in no position to just start farming, I did everything I could to get close to agriculture. I worked for several small vegetable farms in southern Ohio, joined every food activism group I could find and read endless books on all facets of farming.
In 2008, Pat and I moved to Seattle with the intention of buying a farm. Unfortunately we had no connections here, so we started really, really small. I started cooking at two local restaurants and sold small amounts of produce from my garden to the restaurants where I worked. Over the next 2 years our farming projects became increasingly larger and more elaborate. We raised several pigs on a small rented piece of land outside the city and harvested those hogs with the help of several more experienced friends, selling the meat to restaurants I was connected to. We started a small flock of chickens and ducks in our yard in Columbia City, giving the eggs to friends.
In 2011 we made the leap from farming as a hobby to farming as a business. We rented two acres in Fall City and planted an acre in mixed vegetables, dozens of varieties, as many as we could get our hands on. We also raised 100 meat chickens and ducks in moveable tractors, and expanded our flock of layers.
I commuted every morning from Seattle, returning every afternoon and rushing to the job I still had, cooking full time. Pat helped me on weekends and evenings and by the end of the summer, we were completely exhausted but energized by what we had accomplished. Toward the end of that season I had the opportunity to purchase the restaurant where I was working and decided to jump in and go for it. By the end of 2012, I purchased La Medusa in the Columbia City neighborhood of Seattle with my co-worker Gordon!
Things got a little crazy as a full-time restaurant owner who also ran a farm, but with the help of friends and customers, we threw ourselves into this amazing work! By 2014, our operation had blossomed and we moved to a former dairy farm up the road in Carnation. Now in our fifth season, we've expanded our production to include poultry, honey, eggs, dozens of varieties of vegetables and herbs, and even flowers. I've always loved arranging bouquets, and now we offer floral services for small-scale weddings. Needless to say, things are as busy as ever!
Goose and Gander Farm is a unique endeavor because of my lifelong connection to food and cooking.
I’ve always loved to feed the people in my community by cooking for them, and growing that food was a natural next step in the process. Now and in the future, our goal is to use the connection between farming and cooking to change the way more people think about and interact with food (and farms!) We take joy in raising plants and animals, and believe small-scale, locally focused and diversified farming can reconnect people with truly nourishing food.
