Gathering Fogether Farm Tour

In January, one of the original CSA farms in the Willamette Valley hosted a gathering for our farmers. With a long-standing presence at the region’s largest farmers markets, and supported by over 400 CSA members, many people already know of Gathering Together Farm. A glimpse behind-the-scenes into their operations gave farmers an opportunity to learn about scaling up, mechanization, how to balance sales channels, and when to haul out the flame weeder.

Originally started over 30 years ago to supply one restaurant with organic vegetables, GTF was certified organic in 1987. Since then, it has grown to 67 acres over 5 properties just south of Philomath. They plant in open fields and 45 greenhouses, and in the growing months run a farmstand and a cozy from-scratch restaurant featuring lunch made from their vegetables and other locally-produced food.

Diversified vegetable farms are stalwart stewards of flourishing ecosystems, and when there are 67 acres in your care, developing healthy soil is a whole process. It starts in the fall when they make their own compost: over 250 truckloads of the city’s leaves are delivered, watered, and mixed with manure from local chicken, steer, and rabbit operations. Careful temperature monitoring is necessary to ensure efficient decomposition that kills weed seeds but not beneficial microbes. In the winter, samples from each field and greenhouse are sent to a lab for micronutrient and mineral analysis. Results are compared to historic results - they’ve used the same lab for years - and with the help of a soil scientist, year-long crop-specific fertility plans are developed for each area. 

CSA farms are categorized as “labor-intensive”: each crop has different cultivating and harvesting needs and schedules, and managing the tasks for over 100 crops – while accommodating the weather unpredictability – requires a skilled and agile team of hard workers. Tasks include irrigation, trellising, propagating, transplanting, hand and mechanical weeding, and harvesting. Then there’s infrastructure: repairing greenhouses, maintaining buildings, repairing equipment. Post-harvest, there’s washing, grading, sorting, packing, and for some winter crops, storing. GTF employs over 20 people year-round on the farm, and in peak season  over 100 people are on payroll, each wearing many hats, to get all the work done. 

When farming at this scale, finding the balance between manual and mechanized work is critical for worker well-being, for the environment, and for the farm’s bottom line. Farmers learned about a recent addition to GTF’s post-harvest team: a custom-built rinse conveyor unit with variable speed, variable water PSI, and adjustable elevator. All the adjustments allow the unit to process a wide variety of vegetables, and has resulted in washing and grading time being reduced by half.

GTF sells produce through many channels: wholesale, farmers markets, their farmstand, and through the years has experimented with allocation towards each channel. Wholesale is the least complex, but has the leanest margins; CSA requires more management but is still their favorite. Production manager Justin Moran says that they cherish their connections to the community, and that support from long-time members help sustain the farm during the winter. But CSA engagement fluctuates, and they’ve noticed that members are signing up later each year - a trend echoed by many farmers. This makes it more difficult to plan for the upcoming season, and impacts the number of full-time jobs they keep through the winter - payroll still needs to run every two weeks.

And unique challenges arise each year. Abutting one of their fields is another farm that has been in organic production for years. It was recently sold to a commercial hazelnut grower. Implications are uncertain, but hazelnuts are typically a “high-spray” crop, meaning herbicides, fungicides, and pesticides are applied intensively and frequently. 

We are truly grateful to John Eveland and Sally Brewer and the entire team for all their hard work, and the millions of pounds of organic vegetables they’ve grown for the community over the years. And simultaneously providing learning opportunities and employment for our region’s upcoming farmers. Support them and all our CSA farmers by signing up for your share early, buying only organic hazelnuts, and stopping by their restaurant the next time you pass through for a delicious sandwich.