The prohibitive costs of utilizing cover crops had Nick Andrews, an Organic Extension Agent from Oregon State University who focuses on organic vegetable production, wondering if he couldn’t create accessible solutions to encourage more cover-cropping not only by organic growers, but all growers looking to incorporate the beneficial practice. Utilizing the same hardware many growers already use to apply fertilizer, Nick began tinkering.

Harvests of Northwest-grown vegetables, fruit and berries are at full tilt making it a busy and beautiful time of year at organic farms in the Willamette Valley. OGC recently headed out into the field to pay a visit to a handful of our incredible grower partners in the region.

On the foothills of majestic Mt. Hood in Oregon, in an area rich with agritourism, the Liepold family is in their 71st year of growing fruit and berries.

Third-generation Liepolds, Michelle and brother Jeff, along with their partners Paul and Jen, have taken the lead in the family business and are charting a bright future for the farm. Long dedicated to soil health and sustainable practices, Liepold Farms just completed its transition to organic certification.

Great news for fans of organic berries, as Liepold grows some Northwest favorites!

With a relationship spanning more than three decades, OGC has long relied on the impressive work of our friends at Covilli Brand Organics to help keep Northwest eaters flush with high-quality produce during our cooler months. As local growers tuck their fields in for a winter rest, Covilli provides core “summer” vegetables and fruits grown in Sonora’s Epalme Valley.

Learn more about a new product, Covilli’s expansion, and what’s eating exceptionally well right now!

Since 2005, Organics Unlimited has utilized its GROW program to invest over $2,700,000 into communities in the banana-growing regions of Mexico and Ecuador. OGC is proud to support this program, especially as the cost of bringing high-quality, sustainable food from farm to plate increases.

Learn more about how the rising cost of goods impacts the banana industry and how retailers and shoppers can help invest in a sustainable and equitable supply chain.

Don’t miss the link to a powerful podcast featuring Daniella Velazquez de Leon from Organics Unlimited as she details these challenges.

The progression from summer to fall recently inspired OGC to reflect on the theme of “transitions.” Supporting the next generation of organic farmers, and finding opportunities to prioritize more growers of color, are two of OGC’s priorities. While not new news to those in the Pacific Northwest’s community of growers and purveyors of organic produce, Jamie Kitzrow and wife Lisa Schwartz’s retirement from farming in 2019 and their subsequent passing of the torch from Spring Hill Farm to Sunrise and Eloisa is a lovely story to share this time of year that touches on both themes.

This is the final chapter of our four-part series on Denison Farms’ transition with the story of Little Garden Farm.

Like Commonplace Farm and Riverland Family Farms, this small, family-run organic grower has benefitted from Tom Denison and Elizabeth Kerle’s commitment to ensuring the next generation of young farmers find success in an increasingly challenging landscape.

We wish Tom and Elizabeth the best as they enjoy their next chapter and hope you join us in supporting these three fantastic growers!

“Our culture, language, music, food is all influenced by farming,” says Inder Singh of the fertile Punjab region in India that he, his business partner and brother-in-law Tal Singh, and their families hail from. “We’re a multi-generational family of farmers. My father farmed, as did my grandfather and many before him.”

Beyond just gorgeous specialty lettuce, chicories and fresh herbs, Jeremy and Ashli Mueller are using acreage purchased from long-time organic farmer Tom Denison to make the career of farming accessible to future generations.

For over four decades, Denison Farms has been a household name to many shoppers in the Willamette Valley who have purchased their organic produce at area farmers markets. Tom is one of the earliest organic farmers in Oregon to find success at scale, and created a farming model that set the benchmark for many in the region. 

Now, a year since the last pint of berries was sold under the Denison Farm name, OGC takes a look at how Tom’s decades of experience helped to make way for a new generation of organic farmers and his inspiring story of succession planning. 

Join us as we share the four chapters of Denison Farms’ transition from Tom’s early days of farming and the sale of his life’s work to three next-generation Willamette Valley growers now coaxing crops from the land.