The Farm
Our mission is to create meals that connect us to the Pacific Northwest, and each other.
We began as a kitchen garden in our backyard, growing the food we loved to eat (or couldn’t afford or find in the grocery store). Living in such close proximity to our ingredients, where the travel distance from plant to plate was measured in feet not miles, meant that we experienced flavors at their peak. We also became keen observers of how plants changed throughout their lifecycle, often discovering parts we didn’t know were edible (cilantro blossoms and green coriander quickly became fan favorites).
With each discovery came a desire to share with others, first with friends, then with customers as we launched the business.
Happy Kitchen Farm builds off this foundation of home gardening and cooking by providing year-round fresh ingredients to our community. As we’ve expanded, we’ve also become deeply interested in supporting and growing our local food system. We live in such an agriculturally rich region, yet it’s rare to have a meal where we know the provenance of every ingredient, much less the names of the people who grow the food.
Starting with our farm-to-table meal kits, where all the ingredients come from our farm or others in the area, we’re taking on projects that help make it easier to craft meals that are 100% PNW (see The PNW Pantry and PNW Tart).
At first glance, this desire to source everything locally limits the ingredients available for cooking. But constraint leads to creativity, and focus leads to depth. It forces us to seek out and connect with the people who grow, raise, forage, hunt, fish, and produce our food. One must travel, get outdoors, and pay close attention to the changing seasons. These are the activities that, we believe, add quality to our lives.
When we know where our food comes from, food becomes special and worth savoring. We want to share it with others. Great tasting food, then, is just the starting point. It’s an excuse to gather and have meaningful conversations.
Food connects us to each other, and when it comes from the Pacific Northwest, it also creates a deeper sense of place.
History
In January 2025, owner Michael Liang officially launched Happy Kitchen Farm. He intentionally designed a year of business experimentation where he could test different products and sales channels. Within its first month, Happy Kitchen Farm offered a spring microgreen CSA* and a summer culinary herb CSA, both of which sold out within a few weeks. We created a micro farm stand on the front porch to sell any extra produce and plant starts to neighbors. As our reputation grew, local chefs and food producers also started reaching out, hoping to source locally grown ingredients and support another small business.
With demand exceeding available growing space, we signed a farm lease just outside Gig Harbor. This land, plus other infrastructure investments, allowed us to provide a 5-month Winter Greens CSA and set the groundwork for our Farm-to-Table Meal Kits in 2026.
In spring 2026, we signed a second farm lease, also in Gig Harbor, which will allow us to grow on about an acre of land.
Our Products
As a diversified market garden, we grow more than 50 types of produce throughout the year. With each crop comes more experience. With each sale, we start to see where’s there’s customer interest and gaps in the market. We’re especially interested in sour and acidic ingredients, which are often hard to source for farm-to-table meals.
*What’s a CSA?
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a subscription service for customers to receive fresh, local produce directly from farmers. Customers pay for a “share” of the harvest and, since payment is received in advance of the growing season, this helps farmers with crop planning and managing cash flow.