Local farm stand opens in Sisters

Through eight growing seasons, Mahonia Gardens in Sisters has produced quality vegetables and greens for the local Central Oregon market.

Now, local buyers will be able to access their produce at a farm stand located downtown on the corner of Adams Avenue and Spruce Street. The Stand opens on May 1 at noon.

Carys Wilkins and Benji Nagel have been working toward this spring’s opening for about a year. The Stand will eventually be a self-serve installation, but Wilkins said that they’ll be on hand for the first few days to help people learn the ropes and to make sure everything is running smoothly.

“We’re going to have our own food, but we’re also going to bring in a little food from other farms,” she noted. “This week, we’ll have salad, arugula, spinach, various kinds of radishes, salad turnips…”

Wilkins noted that the success of the eighth Mahonia Gardens growing season is in part due to the efforts of interns Misty Earisman and Rashid Klostermann who, she says “are very competent” and “have been awesome.”

Recent events have brought into sharp focus the value of locally-grown foodstuffs.

“It seems that now more than ever, people are realizing how important it is to support their friends and neighbors and the local business people,” Nagel said.

Nagel pointed out that Wilkins did the lion’s share of the work on building The Stand.

“That was all her construction skills there,” he said.

Author Bio

Jim Cornelius, Editor in Chief

Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.

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