Interview with Mark Musick at Vashon Co-housing
by Sylvia Hales

Interview Date: November 1, 2003

Editors note: In this portion of my interview with Mark Musick, he shared the story of the phenomenal salad business he created at Pragtree Farm. Mark published the Regional Tilth Newsletter from Pragtree Farm, was instrumental in the Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) movement and farmer’s markets, and networked with numerous people working for social change and alternatives to the tide of corporate expansionism. Mark describes the humble origins of his success and life on the edge…

MARK: But isn’t it incredible, in fact Mike Maki talked about it, what did he call it? The Wizard of Oz effect, from the very beginning. The whole thing we were doing with Tilth—it was two or three or four of us at work. We were building this movement, inspiring hundreds, thousands of people in this region and across the country. This impact that we had, these ripples we had from this very, very austere, challenging base. It’s just how culture changes—it shifts, it’s where change happens. Larry Korn said at the permaculture conference, “Change happens on the margins, it’s on the edge.” And here we were, on the edge. We were on the edge of the Cascade Mountains ; we were on the edge of the Puget Sound Lowlands; we were on the edge of the culture—this leading edge. And for me, over the next several years, it was increasingly painful to go back up to the farm cuz of, just the… I kept getting called in over the years to resolve disputes. I don’t know if it was a new phrase to me, but we figured out that learning how to farm wasn’t all that hard, learning how to live together, that was the real challenge. And it still is, yes?

SYLVIA: mmhmm

MARK: And that’s the real challenge, and it gets back to our culture where it’s just who we are, it’s in our sinews. This is not a cooperative, communal culture; this is an independent, me-first culture. We just don’t have the skills and experience. So change is happening, it’s just happening over decades. It’s incremental, it’s building. The organic farming movement is phenomenal. And of course this is the irony of the culture. What we were doing with the salad was the archetypal, artisan, precise, very feminine form of agriculture. And it very quickly was picked up by the culture; it’s now part of industrial agriculture, churning these salads out by the ton. There was a picture in People Magazine of these flower farmers in California, and here was this picture of this young beaming couple… in the background, in this field were these sullen farm workers bent over picking nasturtium flowers. And I knew it was over (laughs).

SYLVIA: Mmm, it told it from that photograph.

MARK: And now I can show you the picture that was on the front cover of The New York Times, only last year, of the factory in Arizona where they process the salad with all these conveyor belts, all these machines, and all this stuff washing and mixing and prepping and bagging the “wild salad!” So that’s that… And the parallel thing is the bastardization of organics. So the culture, that’s the thing about America , you can’t stop, you get run over. So you have to keep moving, that edge has to keep moving, it just has to keep moving, and moving, moving, moving…

SYLVIA: Yeah, it’s that co-option.

MARK: And that’s the way. And where does it move to next? CSA is one. CSA is phenomenal! There’s tremendous hope!

SYLVIA: So does that give you hope?

MARK: Oh, tremendous. And that’s the point—“Co-opt that!” (laughs) Co-opt a CSA, you can’t! The edges, the edges just keep moving.

SYLVIA: Well, Mark, thank you so much, so much for sharing your stories with me and for taking all this time, and for all the energy and love that you put into Pragtree and Tilth and all the beautiful ventures. And the impact that you’ve had on so many people, those ripples. Thank you.

MARK: Thank you, you’re most welcome. Yeah, I appreciate your interest; it’s close to my heart. Well, I’m glad there are people there like you who will take the next step, that’s what’s pretty amazing.

Sylvia Hales says, “I moved to Pragtree Farm, a member community of the Evergreen Land Trust, in 2001 with my daughters. I am currently completing an undergraduate degree in Sustainable Community Development at Fairhaven College . Fairhaven ’s program allows me to integrate my education with community living.”