Author: Horton Road Organics

As the rain moved in and the smoke cleared today, we are starting to get back to our regular routine on the farm.  Over the past two weeks, while the farm did not sustain any direct damage from fire, we felt the effects of smoke from the Holiday Farm Fire that was only about 60 miles directly east of us.  It has been a scary time with a lot of uncertainty.  Oh, how we were happy to welcome the rain!

When our area first began being blanketed in smoke, we also experienced high winds that downed trees, created power outages and really dried everything out.  With the fire danger being so high, our power was not restored for over two days.  This means that during the busiest part of our season, we were without irrigation for the crops in the field and without refrigeration for crop cold-storage.  We made the decision to water our salad greens by hand and let some other crops go.  Within a couple of days, ash had lightly coated most of our vegetables.  The smoky sky mimicked a cloudy one and our crops didn’t see any direct sun for well over a week.  On a normal sunny day, crops start out the morning with dew and then as the sun hits them, they dry out over the course of the day.  Without the sun, we had the dew but no evaporation.  Therefore, we have seen a lot more mildew and mold.  Crop evaluation continues on a daily basis – we are making decisions at each harvest about what to keep and what is too damaged to save.

Our resilient crew has been working limited hours to keep up with the basics around the farm, mainly during the mornings when the conditions have been cooler and clearer, and have taken the time to rest and get out of the smoke as much as possible.  We were able to modify harvest schedules last week and were still able to get our CSA boxes packed and delivered.  As of today, we’ve missed a total of 5 farmers markets which is a big blow to the farm’s income at this crucial time of the season.

As we near the end of September, we still have a lot to harvest.  Our season typically goes until the end of October and sometimes into early November.  We are hoping to make all of the Lane County Farmers Markets through the end of October.  If you are looking for a way to help local farms, this is it!!  Purchasing directly from local farms (farmers markets or online) is essential as we all try to navigate this difficult situation.

We look forward to continuing our good work of feeding our local community.

Stay safe, stay healthy and take care.

Sincerely,

Lisa (on behalf of your farmers Debra, Bill, Matthew, Randy, Sarah and Parker)

We have decided to continue our online ordering system even when farmers markets have been canceled.  With the continued uncertainty of local air quality, upcoming farmers markets may be canceled.  We encourage you to place an online order to get consistent access to our produce.  If you place an order for a day when the market is canceled, we will still bring that order to Eugene for you.

Thank you for supporting Horton Road Organics during this difficult time!

We are accepting online orders for quick and easy pick-up at our farmer’s market stands.  Check out the store: https://www.hortonorganics.com/shop/.  Orders must be placed by 12pm the day before market.  Store opens 4 days prior to the pick-up.

Our 2020 CSA is full for the season. We’ve seen huge jump in interest over the past few weeks. Currently, we are developing an online ordering system for pre-payment and market pick-up. We are hoping that this will be ready at the beginning of June. Thank you for all of your support!

Greetings from Horton Road Organics!  We want to share with you what is going on at Horton Road and what steps we are taking to keep you, our crew and our community safe.

While some businesses in other sectors are suspending operations, much of the work that we, as farmers, do now will result in the food that is available in mid-summer and beyond.  For this reason, we are not in a position to stop all work on the farm.  We have already sown many seeds which will be our transplants in the next few months and the first salad mix will be ready in the next few weeks.  The remote location of the farm also automatically adds in a level of isolation that is helpful for us.

Our role as food producers is very important and may even become more important during the next few months.  We believe that CSAs and small farms will have an important role in keeping people well fed and healthy throughout the COVID-19 crisis.  Our farm business will be directly impacted by restaurant dine-in closures and will definitely be hard hit if the area’s farmers markets should close in the upcoming weeks.  With the potential of us losing the income streams from wholesale accounts and farmers markets, our CSA program becomes very important to the financial sustainability of our farm.

At this time, our 2020 CSA registration is open and we are signing up new and returning members.  For those of you who are concerned about general grocery shopping or attending a farmers market, picking up a weekly box of fresh, local, organic produce can be a convenient way to continue to eat well and support the local economy.  If you would like to sign up or refer us to a friend, registration and other information can be found here: Horton Road Organics CSA.

Like many others, we’re taking guidance from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Lane County Public Health, which recommend regular cleaning and hand washing as important preventative measures we can take.  Here is what else we are doing on the farm to promote a healthy community:

• For the health of our crew, we have pushed back the start of our educational apprenticeship program by three weeks.  New apprentices will arrive in May instead of April.
• We will require all employees to be vigilant about frequent hand washing and will train on other best practices for produce handling.
• We will be increasing the frequency of deep cleaning of our produce washing, packing and storage areas.
• Prior to our first farmers market of the season, we will be upgrading our standards of produce care and handling to better serve our customers.
• We will be asking members of our crew to not work if they are experiencing any symptoms, or are concerned in any way.

We take great pride in the quality of our produce and appreciate all of you who have supported us through the years.  Thank you for your continued patronage and support as we all navigate these uncertain times.  We look forward to seeing you healthy and happy when we are back at the farmers markets!

Warmly,

Bill, Debra, Lisa and Matthew