Oregon Shepherd Natural Wool Insulation
Ten years ago when the wool market was depressed, Margaret Magruder decided to come up with an alternative use for wool to turn the market around. Magruder has been a sheep farmer at Magruder Farms the last 30 years in Clatskanie, Oregon, the farm she grew up on started by her grandfather in the early … { more }
The Art of Growing Poinsettias
What do most Poinsettia growers want for Christmas? Not Poinsettias! Don’t get me wrong, I do like them, but come mid November it is time to send them on their way since their journey began back in late May. That’s right, over 5 months ago the process started! Who wants to think about Christmas in … { more }
Vineyard Harvest 2011
Here’s how an ideal grape harvest goes. Several weeks before harvest, the winemaker takes the crop estimates from the vineyard and works out a time line with approximate harvest times and fermentation space. Scheduling is done based on estimated crop size from each block or vineyard, estimated time of grape maturity, and amount of fermentation … { more }
Baumgardner Pickling Company
When Judie Jamison was a child, pickle making was a family tradition. She grew up eating her grandmother’s pickles, a recipe brought over from Germany by her great grandmother. Her father continued the tradition, and every year he would choose a couple of days for the whole family to get together to make a few … { more }
From Farm to Fashion Show
Dear Friends… We had quite an experience this month, as the “headliner” for Portland Fashion Week with our Imperial Knits Collection. It’s very rare for a hand knit collection of patterns to be featured on a ready-to-wear runway, but we were. The ongoing relationship between Imperial Yarn (Imperial Stock Ranch) and our knitwear designer Anna … { more }
Christmas Tree Production Through the Year
Finally, the spring rains, that feel as though they drag on well into what should be summer have gone away, and the hot sun is drying out the tree fields. It is of course that rain that we complain about so much that gives us our most favorable growing season for trees. For each week … { more }
Back to the Future
Back in the 1970’s I and a small group of cohorts, all young urban professionals, decided to become farmers and start vineyards. I guess we were part of the back-to-the-land movement of that time. We didn’t know what we were getting into and how difficult it would be, but we stuck with it, learned a … { more }
Weather Impacts Cherry Growers
Cherry growers like all farmers find each year as a unique opportunity and a unique challenge. The 2010 cherry harvest was a relatively small harvest for us because of spring frosts reducing the crop to about 70 percent of a full crop. But as we say, there is always next year. We finish one crop … { more }
Symphony for the Sheep
Dear Friends…. We had a great experience last week; one of the richest kind you can have. Two charter busloads of kids from the Metropolitan Learning Center in Portland arrived on Wednesday for a day at the Imperial Stock Ranch. What a memorable day it was! And not only for the kids, but for every … { more }
