About | FARMFIT

Highwater Farm & Fields of Recovery

Come learn & grow with us.

The Full Story

In 2007 Jeff and Danielle started Highwater Farm with the help and support of Joan and Steve Ellsworth. They continue to be our mentors for health and longevity. At 70 years old Joan could hold a plank longer than anyone I knew personally. And they're still both hard to keep up with dancing around their 80's.

Over the years Highwater Farm raised hundreds of thousands of pounds of organic produce and seeds for local retail grocery stores, seed companies, and food banks.

But as many farmers do, we struggled. We suffered physically, emotionally, and mentally. From the stress of finances, of putting all our work into crops beginning in Winter, before seeing a return in the summer or fall and sometimes none at all.

There are always big risks and challenges.

For the first 10 years we were harvesting year round, in the Northwest winters where the rains fall everyday hovering just below freezing.

All of this made us hardy and strong.

More than growing the food, washing, packing and delivering it, I deeply wanted to share the lessons we've gained from making it through these experiences, both physical and emotional for land, body & mind.

In 2021 Fields of Recovery was born- as a kind of Highwater 2.0. Fields of Recovery grows veggies, seeds and medicines but we're doing the important work of sharing the practical skills and tools we use to work hard, to build the sustainable lifestyle for food & sheltering.

Prepping the body and the homestead.

Becoming agile for survival and preparing for natural disasters and any changes that we CANNOT foresee.

As farmers and homesteaders-We built off grid water systems and switched to producing 105% of our electricity needs. We heated only with wood for 19 years. We deeply understand the rhythms of nature and what it takes to survive.

Fields of Recovery is our vision to help you reach peak health for the long haul so you can continue to serve your community.

Our Values

Growing food will deeply influence character. Tend crops and you cannot help but see a bigger picture of intricacy and power.

Nature's sensitivity and yours are of epic proportions.

You & Nature Connect.

You plant seeds and tend them patiently into fruition.

Imagine if you learned to grow only one thing.

How about potatoes?

Most likely in your lifetime you would still only have the chance to do it 40 to 80 times Max.

Consider the scale of it when there are so many plants to grow, to learn about, to experience.

Potatoes are just one of thousands of things we can grow.

And consider all those who have grown before you, to keep you fed and alive.

And down the line to those that came before you and what it took to sustain them.

Feed people and you realize what a gift it is to take part in the cycles of Nature itself: of life and death, and of transformation. From compost (blood, guts, poop, sweat....), through storms, with sunshine and sometimes under great blue sky to green pastures and abundance of roots, stems, stalks, fruit, beans, seeds.

It is also incredibly grounding. It's a great way to stay strong, skilled, practical, and of service to your community.

The scale of it all is of epic proportions and at the same time so simple.

But it takes time.

It takes effort.

It takes support to implement key strategies that optimize health, work, and life performance. Human health and wellness are not unlike the tending from seed to full fruition.

We believe in pushing the limits of what is possible WITHOUT wrecking your body.

Training

Danielle Chevalier

First Responder, Farmer & Fitness Trainer

About Me

I believe in learning by doing and that we can all build on our strengths wherever we are.

Pay attention to your limits while consistently challenging yourself to build the stamina to achieve great feats more easily.

Since 2013, I've facilitated 1000s of body mind wellness activities for people of all ages and backgrounds: at churches, shelters, drop-in centers, residential drug treatment and outdoor behavioral healthcare centers, at the health club, the yoga studio, and at the hospital.

Nearly 15 years ago, in my 30's, NO SURPRISE -before I became a Personal Trainer-I had high blood pressure. I have an autoimmune disease - my body was often covered from head to toe in skin sores.

Back when we were fanatically dedicated to growing organic vegetables for the Skagit Valley Food Coop, it was fun and very hard.

We were isolated in our obsession with all things sustainability.

I was in pain-shoulder pain, back pain, neck pain.

I could be seen often running around mad angry, forcing myself and attempting to get others to get the job done.

I was causing more pain to my body and to the people around me.

I was making myself crazy from the pressures and demands I put on myself.

I was crazy, angry, and sick. We argued way too much. I was in physical pain more days than not, for years.

A similar assault was happening throughout the inside of my body. I have a tendency toward early age onset arthritis and if I'm not careful pain will take over my life.

Before my mid 30's I could ignore it and push through. At one point a chiropractor told me that it's surprising I was able to birth because my gait and spine were so twisted.

Those days of pushing through pain are long gone.

I'm in it for the long haul- to maintain stamina and endurance.

I got into personal training, functional prehab/pain-free movement and exercise science because of my own overuse injuries. I've been a health professional working in mental health, addictions, and emergency medicine as part of my personal recovery.

I was not a high school athlete.

I smoked cigarettes and got into trouble for bringing alcohol to school at a very early age.

I never had any interest in gaining muscle mass until I became a farmer and realized the potential.

That is why I practice and teach skills for building functional strength, moving pain-free, harnessing deep sleep and tuning up your emotional regulators.

I'm always learning and taking functional labs and integrative medicine to get the best results for my people.