Cultivating a Healthy Food System
Welcome to April Joy Farm.
Celebrating 20 Years of Good Food, Grown With Love.
Feeding Clark County families and building community since 2006.
Clark County’s First Forever Farm
“The Protected Property possesses significant agricultural values of great importance to the Grantor, Grantee, the people of Clark County, and the people of the State of Washington.”
The soil beneath our feet in Clark County is geologically unique and exceptional by global standards. Deep, naturally fertile soils like Clark County’s are priceless: it took thousands of years of river deposition from the Columbia, Lewis, and Washougal Rivers to form deep layers of silt-loam that have fed generations of people inhabiting this place.
The State of Washington officially recognizes over 30,000 acres of farmland in Clark County as Washington State Prime Farmland or Farmland of Statewide Importance, including April Joy Farm. Despite the unparalleled fertility and significance of its farmlands, Clark County continues to lose critical acres of agricultural lands due to development pressure from expanding urban growth boundaries.
The loss of these irreplaceable lands undermines our local economy and the health, well-being, and food security of all who live here.
The 24 acres we now call April Joy Farm have fed generations of families. April took over in 2006, and when she did, she promised the previous farmer Annie that this land would not be developed. April kept that promise, determined to grow health food for her community. Now, she’s working to ensure future land stewards will have the same opportunity.
April Joy Farm partnered with Washington Farmland Trust and Clark County’s Legacy Lands Program over a three-year period to create a farmland conservation easement. In 2026, they established the county’s first “Forever Farm,” permanently protecting the land from development.
“Every acre of Clark County's rich soil is a miracle centuries in the making. We can replace a subdivision. We cannot replace this soil. Once it's paved over, no amount of money or technology will bring it back. Protecting farmland isn't nostalgia — it's making sure that fifty years from now, this region can feed itself.” ~April Thatcher
For more information, contact: media[at]apriljoyfarm.com
Our Community
Our Farm to Heart Food Equity Initiative connects farmers, elementary school families, community partners, and volunteers to co-create a healthier food system for all of us. This uniquely transparent, farm direct model delivers ultra-fresh, nutrient dense produce to families experiencing hunger through our CSA and Community Tables programs. We connect people with the tools and resources to shape their food systems.
How We Grow
Certified Organic? For us, that’s just the beginning. For two decades, April Joy Farm has led the way. We created from scratch our 100% choice-based CSA model and were one of the first certified Animal Welfare Approved producers in the pacific northwest region. We’ve partnered with the USDA and our Clark Conservation District to plant thousands of native shrubs and trees to filter runoff from roads and neighbors, improve habitat for wild animals, and restore important field buffers. We’ve hosted regional researchers studying climate-smart farming practices, wild birds, and insects. We’ve devoted over half an acre of prime farmland to pollinator habitat and are Bee Better Certified. We are absolutely passionate about soil health because we know it is literally the basis of all health. Along the way we’ve fed thousands of Clark County families.
Who says you can’t have it all?
What We Grow
Our farm produces an astounding diversity of certified organic vegetables, fruits, flowers, and herbs. Our growing selection of perennials includes apples, plums, cherries, mulberries, pears, and our very popular seedless dessert grapes. April Joy Farm is also home to many species of native and/or medicinal plants including hawthorn, rose, willow, cedar, fir, cascara, and nettle.
