Local Food Matters: Put your money where your mouth is

(Thanks to The Source for recognizing four of our strongest local food advocates!)

It’s 11:00 a.m. on a hot and sunny Monday. I pull into Rainshadow Organics farm in Lower Bridge outside of Terrebonne to meet with owner Sarahlee Lawrence, who has been hard at work since daybreak.

Potatoes are planted, Brussel sprouts and kale are coming up in the garden, and the cover crop in the big field is about to be tilled under. Two large greenhouses for growing tomatoes are getting wrapped with plastic, and two long hoop houses need to be opened up for a little air, full of carrots, beets and lettuce, which will be picked today for a market in Sisters.

In addition to growing a multitude of vegetables, berries and herbs, Sarahlee and her parents, who have been farming on the land for 25 years, also grow flowers, hay and wheat and are raising 33 heritage breed pigs, 300 chickens and 100 turkeys. To say she is “busy” would be an understatement. Read the full story ….