Happy Grounds Farm & Sanctuary

Resident of the Week: Chester

Every week, when you make an egg purchase from us through Kitsap Fresh, we introduce to you one of the animals that calls Happy Grounds home. By purchasing from us, you’re not just supporting a small local farm, you’re also helping care for the rescue animals who live here. These spotlights are a way for us to say thank you, and to let you meet the beloved residents you’re helping support!

This feature was included in the egg cartons that went out to customers on 6/18:

Resident of the Week: Chester

Happy Grounds is a family farm and animal sanctuary located in the Keyport area of Poulsbo. Each week, we love sharing the stories of our animal residents and today we’d like you to meet Chester, our 7-year-old domestic medium-hair tabby cat.

Chester has been with us the longest of all our rescues. His story begins long before he officially joined our family, when our daughter Addison was just three years old. She had a very specific vision: we were going to adopt an orange cat with a fluffy tail, and his name would be Chester. At the time, we had never even owned a cat, but Addison never let go of the idea.

Fast forward two years – we were living in Norfolk, Virginia when we heard a heartbreaking story: Two trash bags filled with young cats had been discovered along a highway. A good Samaritan rescued them and brought them to a local animal shelter, which began reaching out to nearby communities in hopes of finding homes for as many as possible.

We decided to visit the shelter – and there he was. An orange cat, about 6 months old with a fluffy tail. Addison picked him up, looked into his eyes, and said, “This is Chester!” And the rest, as they say, is history. Chester is a sweet and gentle soul, though it’s taken him time to learn to trust. Sudden movements still make him skittish, and heavy footsteps might earn you a few gentle swats. But call his name from across the house, and he’ll come running. He loves lounging by open windows in the summer, feeling the breeze on his fur, and listening to the world outside.

If you’re thinking about bringing a cat into your family, we always encourage adopting from your local rescue or shelter! Chester is living proof that with love and patience, even animals who’ve experienced hardship can become the most loving companions.

“This is Chester!” – Addy

Resident of the Week: Mama Duck

Three years ago, a friend of ours took in a dozen Muscovy ducks that had been rescued from a house fire in Silverdale. Having lost his home, the owner could no longer care for his animals and was grateful to have someone take in his flock. Mama Duck spent about a year at our friend’s farm – until one day we discovered her tucked away in the corner of the chicken house, sitting on a hidden clutch of 16 eggs!

Sadly, only 4 of the ducklings survived, and we were asked to take in Mama and her 4 babies here at Happy Grounds. Over the next few months we had the awesome experience of watching a mother duck raise her ducklings into adulthood. We’re so used to seeing chicks and ducklings alone in feed store brooders, and it was a joy to watch Mama Duck teach her little ones how to swim, stay warm, and explore the world!

These days, Mama Duck’s hobbies include swimming, snacking on frozen peas and corn, hunting for bugs and slugs in the garden, and snuggling (on her terms, of course). She’s taken on the role of mother to all of our ducks and chickens, and keeps everyone in line.

If you’ve never met a Muscovy, they’re a little different from your average duck. They chirp instead of quack! They also prefer to perch at night – roosting with our chickens! Muscovies are very easy to handle and their eggs are rich and perfect for baking. To learn more about Mama Duck and our other rescued residents, visit us at http://www.HappyGroundsFarm.com!

Resident of the Week: Annabelle Elizabeth

Every week, when you purchase from us through Kitsap Fresh, we introduce to you one of the animals that calls Happy Grounds home! By purchasing eggs and produce grown here, you’re not just supporting a small local farm, you’re also helping care for the rescue animals who live here. These spotlights are a way for us to say thank you, and to let you meet the beloved residents you’re helping support!

This feature was included in the egg cartons that went out to customers on 5/28:

Resident of the Week: Annabelle Elizabeth

Happy Grounds is a family farm and animal sanctuary located in the Keyport area of Poulsbo. This week we’d like to introduce you to our very first animal rescue and the queen of our sanctuary – Annabelle Elizabeth. Annabelle is a 3 year old Kune Kune pig.

When we met Annabelle, she was just 9 months old. Her original farmer was facing a difficult choice: his kids had formed a strong bond with her, but as a pork producer, he didn’t have the resources to keep a pig as a pet. He knew she deserved a long and happy life, and we’re so grateful he trusted us with her care. Annabelle was the spark that started it all here at Happy Grounds. She’s taught us so much about the personalities of farm animals – how deeply they can love and be loved.

You might recognize Annabelle as one of the two sweet piggy faces on our logo, alongside her best friend Edward. Around here, she’s the head honcho – top pig, if you will. She loves to eat watermelon, apples, and fresh corn on the cob. Her hobbies include dragging sticks into her bed, burrowing under fresh piles of hay, mud baths during the summertime, belly rubs and monthly pedicures.

Annabelle truly is the heartbeat of our sanctuary and where our mission of compassion began 💚 You can see more pictures of Annabelle and learn about our farm at http://www.HappyGroundsFarm.com

Hello from Happy Grounds!

Hello from all the animals and humans at Happy Grounds Farm & Sanctuary! Although we’ve been around for a few years, this is our very first blog post. After recently stepping away from Instagram, we wanted a space where we have more control over our content while also spending less time online— and a blog here on our website felt like the perfect solution.

To kick things off, we’d love to introduce you to our Happy Grounds family!

Geno and I proudly share the title of Head of Shenanigans. Along with our four children, we live on a small piece of land in Poulsbo, Washington. The military brought our family to Kitsap County in 2021, and despite the relentless rain and these long, dark winters—it truly feels like the perfect place to raise our family the rest of the year! Haha!

Right now we’re in a wonderful, busy season of life. On any day of the week you can find us around town for sports practices, school events, and volunteering in our agricultural community, and just having a lot of fun together.

Last week it snowed! Our first and only snow of the year so far and the kids were home from school all week! They had a lot of fun playing outside with friends, building snowmen with carrot noses, and snuggling on the couch inside watching movies. I work from home and Geno stayed home from the office, so it was a lot of fun having everyone together all week.

This weekend we’re just relaxing – sports games have been cancelled due to weather, so we’re just moving slow and taking it easy. Here are some fun pictures of the animals this week in the snow!

Checking out the snow - not wanting to stay out too long and end up with frozen hooves

L to R - Apple, Peaches, Mama Duck, Piper (aka Moon Pie) and Darkie Jr (aka Dharma)