Community gathered for harvest dinner

T. Lee Brown | Last updated Sep 12, 2023 10:43am0

Photo by Emily Green count

The community gathered to eat, drink, and celebrate Seed to Table's 10th Anniversary on the farm. Pictured here, folks applauded founder and Executive Director Audrey Tehan.

Farmers and founders, longtime friends and new acquaintances, all gathered together Saturday to celebrate Seed to Table's 10th Anniversary at the Fall Harvest Dinner.

Clear skies and mellow weather created a welcoming atmosphere, along with the strings of lights above and flowers laid out on long tables. Live music hit a soothing note from the stage.

"The farm tour was great!" said one participant. "It wasn't hot at all."

Farm tours gave guests a glimpse into the nitty-gritty behind farming and farm-based education. Encompassing greenhouses and hoop houses, fields, and washing stations, Seed to Table's farm spans four acres.

Fine weather continued into the evening as folks nibbled local delicacies from Feast Food Company based in Redmond. Locally ranched lamb was featured, along with vegetables grown by Seed To Table.

The dinner took place in a pleasant meadow on the farm. This year, the annual harvest meal marked a unique occasion: Seed to Table's 10th anniversary. In 2013, former Sisters High School student Audrey Tehan was invited to develop a farm education program at her alma mater in collaboration with Sisters Science Club.

The program evolved into today's nonprofit organization, which spans three programming areas: providing farm-based education, growing and distributing fresh produce for people of various income levels, and managing Sisters Farmers Market.

Tehan gave a moving speech (see related article, page 20). Seed to Table's programs director Hannah Joseph presented Tehan with a special gift: a framed photomontage featuring ten years of pictures. Joseph offered up words of appreciation on behalf of herself, the staff, and director of operations Helen Vaskevitch, who could not be present.

In particular, Joseph thanked Tehan for creating an environment where people learn to laugh as they overcome obstacles. She ended with a toast: "Here's to another 10 years of Seed to Table!"

Members of the audience clapped and hollered in appreciation. Some were visibly moved to tears.

In its decade-long history, Seed to Table has affected many lives. As Tehan reported from the stage, the farm is currently producing 85,000 pounds of produce per year.

Farm-based education lies at the heart of Seed to Table. The organization provides local children and youth with hands-on education at the farm along with programs on-site in schools, such as the Sisters High School greenhouse programs. In a given year, 1,500 to 1,750 student visits typically take place.

Some of these students may go on to start their own gardens or inspire their families to grow their own food at home. Some have become volunteers at the Farmers Market. Currently, one student has returned to Seed to Table, now working professionally as a farmer.

The bounty of fresh food she helps grow at the farm is distributed to a wide range of residents, some facing barriers to food access. A community supported agriculture (CSA) produce share enables folks to pick out their preferred vegetables every week on the farm in season.

"Seed to Table touches so many lives, whether through education, feeding families, seeing your friends and neighbors at the Farmers Market," said longtime volunteer Fran Willis, who is now vice chair of the Board of Directors. "It's woven into the fabric of this community in ways that many people don't realize."

Through partnerships with groups including Kiwanis and NeighborImpact, the farm provides fresh produce to food banks and pantries. Sisters Farmers Market, which Seed to Table has led and managed for the last four seasons, offers a point of access for fresh food and a community gathering place.

For some kids, a trip to Seed to Table might be their first exposure to fresh food, grown nearby using sustainable and organic methods. Fresh vegetables taste bright and delicious-as evidenced by the salads guests enjoyed in their harvest dinners.

As sunlight faded, diners sank forks into slices of cake. Gathering up sweaters and jackets, ready to head home, they talked about how nice it was to meet new people and run into old friends.

"They do so much here, I had no idea," commented a Tumalo resident. "We're lucky to have all this so close."

"The organization has only come this far with immense community support and dedicated staff," said Tehan.

She thanked staff, volunteers, board members, donors, consultants, partners, and participants. Lead sponsor Metabolic Maintenance got a big shoutout and applause for their long-term support.

The farmers who work the land at Seed to Table bring "knowledge and connections that have become a touchstone, nurturing both the land and the community," she said.

Celebrating a milestone at Sisters farm

T. Lee Brown

“At 10 years old I sat perched in the backyard of my parents’ house in Sisters, looking out on the cattle pasture,” Seed to Table founder and executive director Audrey Tehan told the crowd gathered at the farm Saturday evening. The backyard she spoke of was a few yards away.

“I came to this spot sparked by tales from my grandmothers, how they tended their gardens with their grandmothers in Oklahoma and Eastern Oregon. Buckets of tomatoes, midnight potato beetle hunts, bean tendrils growing to the sky, the sun scorching as they weeded, running to grab lettuce to bring to the dinner table… the stories sparked my curiosity,” she said.

“And so I asked, ‘Mom, can we make a garden?’”

The occasion for this remembered tale was Seed to Table’s 10th anniversary, celebrated at the organization’s annual Fall Harvest Dinner.

Many in the Sisters community know Seed to Table as a farm that provides them with fresh, local, sustainably grown food. Others are more familiar with its educational offerings for kids and youth. Still others come to know Seed to Table as the presenter of Sisters Farmers Market every Sunday in season.

The organization’s farm, which has grown to four acres, is located on the property of John and Peggy Tehan, the parents of Audrey Tehan.

She went on with her story. After she asked about starting a garden, her mom responded. “I could sense a shared curiosity in her voice as a resounding ‘yes’ came out, no hesitations,” Tehan continued. “Within minutes we found a spot in the backyard for our first garden. This garden sits only 30 feet from the vegetable fields of what is now Seed to Table.

“I’m sure my mom had no idea that her big yes would one day grow into Seed to Table, with vegetables taking over every corner of the former cattle pasture, with students exploring, their voices ringing out across the fields.”

Tehan recounted how Sisters School District and Sisters Science Club invited her to start a farm-to-school program in 2013. “Much like my mom’s swift response two decades prior, I answered with an unwavering yes,” she said.

“One garden bed, one middle school greenhouse, and 30 students comprised Seed to Table’s first year,” Tehan explained. For perspective, Seed to Table now grows on four acres of land, operates multiple greenhouses, and educates kids with up to 1,750 student visits each year.

Stocking food pantries with fresh produce, managing a bustling farmers market, teaching vocational skills to youth with learning disabilities, and more: Seed to Table covers a lot of ground in Sisters Country. It has grown into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization staffed by about eight people and supported by an eight-person board of directors.

“The organization has only come this far with immense community support and dedicated staff,” said Tehan. She thanked staff, volunteers, board members, donors, consultants, partners, and participants.

The farmers who work the land at Seed to Table bring “knowledge and connections that have become a touchstone, nurturing both the land and the community,” she elaborated.

Hearkening back to the early days, Tehan choked up a bit. So did many in the audience. She offered deep thanks to her parents and to Benji Nagel and Carys Wilkins of neighboring farm Mahonia Gardens, all of whom were instrumental in the creation of Seed to Table.

With Seed to Table celebrating its anniversary, community members have recently offered thanks and congratulations. Kathy Deggendorfer, founder and trustee of the Roundhouse Foundation, noted her appreciation for the organization’s variety of community-focused programs.

Deggendorfer also expressed her strong respect for Tehan.

“She’s a leader. She has a great vision and plows through to get it done,” explained Deggendorfer. “You need dynamic leaders, and she is one.”

Barb Schulz is a retired science teacher and former chair of the Seed to Table board of directors. “I actually started volunteering with Audrey right after she started Seed to Table,” she said. “It’s marvelous how the program has grown, not just growing good food and making it available to the community but also educating the next generation about what is possible... and the Farmers Market, the whole thing!”