Winter Green Farm is owned by three farm families. Jack Gray and Mary Jo Wade started Winter Green Farm in 1980, and were joined in 1985 by Wali and Jabrila Via. Long-time employees Chris and Shannon Overbaugh joined ownership last year. Over the years, many of our workers have remained with us for 4 to 10+ years. Their contributions, along with shorter-term workers have made the farm what it is. During the peak of the season there are as many as 25 people on our payroll.

Winter Green Farm employs biodynamic farming methods, and we view our farm as a living organism. This means we strive to create a healthy farm-scale ecosystem. The vast majority of our fertility is produced on-farm, and we view this as one sign of a farm in biological balance. The backbone of our fertility program is the use of well-ripened compost, green manure crops, careful crop rotation, and pasturage of our grazing stock. The health of our farm is reflected in the quality of our crops.

Our farm has a wide diversity of crops. Currently, we plant 10 acres for Farmers Market crops, 9 acres for our Community Farm (CSA), 1.5 acres in basil for our pesto business, 2.5 acres in burdock root (gobo) for wholesale accounts, 1.5 acres in blueberries, 70 acres in permanent pasture, and another 21 acres in temporary pasture. We also have a herd of beef cows and personal riding horses. The remaining acreage is oak grove, riparian area and wildlife habitat.

The Community Farm program helps connect consumers directly to our farm and helps us meet one of our goals of producing quality basic foods for the local community. For a set annual price consumers become members and receive a box of fresh produce every week of the growing season and a generous share of winter storage vegetables as well. In 2009 there were 600 member families. We are always happy to send our Community Farm brochure to prospective members.

We sell at four farmers markets in Portland and one in Bend. In 2010 we will be opening a farm stand in Eugene.

We have developed a close link with our local food bank, and through the combined effort from our labor and donations from the community we provide thousands of pounds of produce to those in need. Some of this food is distributed as memberships in our Community Farm for women and their children who are in the process of healing from abusive partner relationships.

Winter Green Farm hosts many field trips from pre-school to graduate students. We are also frequent speakers at a variety of conferences.

In 2002 Winter Green Farm was honored with the Oregon Tilth “Producer of the Year Award” for commitment to integrity in biologically sound and socially equitable agriculture. In 2009 we were awarded the Crop Farm Award for Excellence from the Oregon Organic Coalition.

Thank you for your interest in our farm!

THE WINTER GREEN FARMERS—
Jack, Mary Jo, Wali, Jabrila, Chris, and Shannon