by Liz Ziegler

At the Astoria Co-op we sell local organic produce whenever we can. Our salad mix, loose-leaf spinach and fingerling potatoes are grown at Kingfisher Farms. Tucked up next to the Nehalem River in a valley bordering Clatsop and Tillamook Counties, Jeff Trenary has had the pleasure of tilling 15 beautiful acres on a peaceful 20-acre property for 16 years. Jeff farms his land organically and tries to follow biodynamic principles. He fertilizes with chicken manure, fishmeal, rock dust and gypsum. By using cloches and greenhouses until May or June, Jeff can farm year-round. Kingfisher Farm produces over 34 different varieties of vegetables and salad greens, but potatoes are what sustain the farm through the winter. About seventy-five percent of Jeff’s business is with restaurants and the rest is divided between local farmer’s markets in Astoria, Portland and Newport; his 30 member C.S.A.; and natural foods markets like the Community Store. Jeff’s commitment to organic farming requires a giant amount of labor, love and financial risk but pays off with his admittedly great lifestyle. Only a 15 -minute drive from the nearest break, Jeff surfs whenever he can and works the soil whenever he’s not surfing.

With organic farming, weeding is a constant chore and by far the worst weed Jeff battles at Kingfisher Farms is the native knotweed—actually a type of buckwheat. He shared a trick he learned to eliminate this problem plant. Using row covers in the early spring over unplanted beds, he tricks the knotweed into germinating early. Once established, but before going to seed, he tills under the knotweed and then plants the bed. This not only gets rid of the weeds that would have choked his beds later in the season, it helps add biomass to the soil. This philosophy of working with the land and experimenting with different ways to add to the soil translates into beautiful plants and delicious produce.