The busy days of winter! Despite the snow which just keeps coming, farm life in the winter on our sustainable farm and nursery is as hectic if not more so than spring and summer when all the plants and herbs are bursting with new growth and color!

Our winters are spent propagating new plants in the greenhouses, working on our websites: Farm Fresh Living, Stargazer Perennials and The Fly Fishing Place, going through the hours of difficult decisions about which variety of heirloom tomato to grow or not to grow, which new plant to add to our growing palette, what new construction project needs to occur when the snow is gone and on and on... Don't get me wrong, we are not complaining, in fact we would not have it any other way!

This winter we have added the enjoyable, although time consuming task of getting agritourism started in our little corner of paradise in Eastern Oregon.  Agri-tourism is a perfect fit for our farm and in fact we have been an "agritourism" destination for several years. Our newest challenge is in trying to establish a larger base of farms in our area to participate in agritourism which in turn will help to promote and advertise the scenic wonders and recreational activities that our area has to offer.

Our first victory for creating agritourism in Union County, Oregon was won on December 22, 2008 when we succeeded in becoming the first "Farm Stand" to be legally recognized in Eastern Oregon; what a wonderful Christmas gift that was!

If you would like to learn more about agri-tourism, visit the Foundation for Rural Sustainability, a non profit organization that promotes small farm economic sustainability and agritourism.