Produce stand makes spring official

Richard Greene and his assistant, Jayne Simmons, remove the winter locks on Richard's Produce Stand. Photo by Tom Chace

With the opening of his produce stand next Monday, Richard Greene has officially proclaimed that, "Winter is over. Spring is upon us and it's time to get the fresh produce out once again."

"I'm glad he's back," said one onlooker who thought the photo-op last weekend was the real thing. "I hate to go by this building and see it boarded up. You can't miss it from the highway and it looks so desolate, like winter around here," she said.

"This is a good omen to have it open again. That means not only is winter over, but that good Oregon fresh produce is back."

This will be the sixth season for Greene operating under the banner "Richard's Produce Stand," located behind the Space Age Gas station at the corner of West Cascade and Pine Streets.

"I'm really happy that Jayne Simmons will be back with me again this year," he said. "I'm making her my assistant. She has so many friends in Sisters who just drop by to chat and that's what it's all about, friends, good neighbors and fun."

Richard Greene has lived in this area 31 years. He has six children, now all grown and gone.

"I couldn't raise my family on what this stand brings in," he said. "This is more of a love business than a money maker."

One of his three daughters attends college in Alabama, and his youngest son goes to Western Oregon University. Three of his children are teachers.

"Mostly, they still live around here or come back home when they can. Yes, they do help around the stand when in town, but I don't push 'em," he said.

Greene, a member of the Sisters Rotary Club, worked for Sentry Market here before it was bought by Ray's Food Place. He was the assistant manager for 10 years and then produce manager. Now, he is starting his sixth year on his own.

"It's been tough, but it's been great, too," he said.

What about the winter months?

"Well, I handle the produce at Sisters Market and, if I work it right, I take off on my vacation. From April until November, I'm pretty well stuck here. We're going from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m., seven days a week. That's when we're open. I also have to meet and unload the trucks and do my ordering before or after regular hours," he said.

"Jayne is really a big help in getting me some time off or I'd go bonkers."

The owner of Richard's Produce has a "stable full" of truckers and others whom he buys from directly, avoiding the middleman and wholesale produce markets, "as much as possible. I do have to go through some of the brokers once in a while to get non-Oregon grown produce," he said.

"Bananas, kiwis, oranges and things like that. But the vast majority of what I carry and sell is local, out of Yakima, Roseberg, and up and down the Willamette Valley. My guys call me or I'll call them the night before and they're in the field at day break, as early as 4 a.m., picking what's ripe and what's priced right. They're on the road heading here by about 6 a.m. and their just-picked produce is on my shelves when I open at 8 a.m."

One of the things Greene advocates, generally not found in the major supermarkets, is to let customers sample before they buy.

"We'll have a plate of freshly cut fruits, or we can snap a bean and peel a pea. If I wouldn't take it home for my table," he said, "I don't want my customers to buy it."

"And, I want them to try before they buy."

Richard's can be reached from Highway 20/126 (Cascade Avenue) turning south onto Pine Street (towards the mountains) and then turning right into his parking lot -- a block from the intersection.