The Land

The entire 92 acres consists of flat or gently sloping fields in the low, rolling foothills of the Willamette Valley south of Sheridan, Oregon. The fields and pastures are on Dupee silt loam and Hazelair silty clay loam which slope gently down to the year-round creek that flows north to the South Yamhill River.

We have 62 acres of fields of our own, and rent another 25 acre field from our neighbor. All of them are certified organic by Oregon Tilth.

Our farm is located along the western edge of the Van Duzer Corridor AVA - a wine growing region of the Willamette Valley characterized by heavier soils and by cool, marine breezes which flow from the Oregon Coast during the summer. The wind and soil combine to produce thicker-skinned, slower-ripening grapes that can create richer and more complex wines. While we haven't yet put in grapevines, maybe someday!

Besides the fields we have nearly 20 acres of Oregon White Oak woodland which provides native habitat for beneficial insects and other wildlife like deer, wild turkey, coyotes, several species of birds of prey and many songbirds including Western Bluebirds.

We are a 2017 Flagship Farm of the Oregon Bee Project, which is dedicated to protecting and promoting wild and managed bees in Oregon through a science-based strategy. In 2019 we began planting flowering hedgerows — first along the edge of Red Prairie Road, and later along the banks of the stream that runs between the East and West Fields. These hedgerows contain native shrubs and small trees that will provide pollen and nectar for bees and other pollinators from early spring through the fall. Those bees are critical to pollinating our flowering crops like peas, buckwheat and radish (grains are wind-pollinated and don't rely on insect pollinators) and our fruit trees and berry bushes.