Cliffside Orchard
Jeff & Jeanette Herman, Member Spotlight, December 2011
Jeff Herman’s path to a 30-year career owning and operating Cliffside Organic Orchard in Washington began on a whim. In 1973, Jeff emerged from a Cascadian backpacking trip to find himself in Central Washington at the height of the fruit season. Jeff decided to take a seasonal job picking fruit, even though his previous farming experience had been limited to cattle and hay in Maryland as a teen. After two seasons picking, Jeff and his wife-to-be, Jeanette, teamed up to begin managing a traditionally farmed nine acre orchard in the Wenatchee Valley. In 1982, Jeff and Jeanette bought seven pristine acres near Kettle Falls and began producing fruit exclusively with organic practices. Twenty-nine years later, Cliffside Orchard remains completely organic and has grown to include 1,000 trees, including myriad varieties of apricots, peaches, pears, plums, cherries, nectarines and apples.
Was it difficult to open as an organic orchard in 1982?
Of the twenty farmers I got to know well while farming in the Wenatchee Valley, only one was positive about our decision to use organic practices. Some people would even get mad when I’d talk about it. Starting out, there was definitely a lot of doubt in my mind as to whether it could be done. I was fortunate that about a year after we opened Cliffside Orchard, a professor of mine at Wenatchee Valley College, Phil Untershuetz, opened an organic supply and consulting business. Phil was basically doing organic networking before the organic network was around, and was a great resource for me. Even when the orchard got bigger, I was shocked at how easy organic pest control was. We’re in an isolated area, but it has been amazing how good our organic pest control is without exerting a whole lot of effort
What are the biggest challenges to growing in your area?
We initially wanted to find land in the Wenatchee Valley, but found that it was too expensive. We ended up in Stevens County on the Columbia River because the climate is good, the land pristine and the price cheap. One remaining challenge is our distance from the market. In the beginning, we sold wholesale and I had to truck fruit over to Olympia. Eventually we were able to get trucks to backhaul goods right from the farm to wholesale markets, but we found that as more large-scale farms went organic, it was incredibly challenging to keep up with wholesale as a seven-acre farm. Now our challenge is the farmers’ markets. Because our trees are only producing fruit from mid-July to late-October, we have to do a lot of markets. During the peak season, we go to as many as seven markets a week, reaching from Seattle all the way to Sand Point, Idaho. We’re working toward selling more and more of our fruit on the east side of the state, but it’s been difficult to do
Your season is short and intense; how do you handle labor?
We’ve hired interns for the past ten years and it’s been a predominantly positive experience. Our interns are paid above minimum wage, so they’re like employees. They don’t come as seasoned professionals; they come to learn about the farming experience. Also, since we sell at so many farmers markets, we try to find interns who are outgoing enough to do sales as well
Any advice for people new to farming?
I think developing skills to make money off of the farm is a great attribute. Through the years I’ve known a lot of farmers who have relied on having another skill to get by. When we were starting the orchard, I worked for eight years framing houses and also doing logging in the woods. I eventually stopped in 1989 when I was making more working on the farm than working off of it. Also, when things are tough, having another skill is a great fallback.
What do you do for soil maintenance?
We do a lot of cover crop management. By alternating planting clover, tilling and leaving the ground fallow around the trees, we build soil nutrition.
What is you favorite piece of farming equipment?
Probably the Ferguson TO-30 tractor I bought in 1977. We’ve had a long relationship. It’s in the shop right now, but hopefully it will be running again soon…
What’s your favorite fruit to grow?
Peaches… and apricots… and pears and apples too!
What’s your favorite fruit to eat?
Whatever is fresh off the tree!
What has been most rewarding about being involved with Tilth Producers?
We originally became members of Tilth because of the very small organic community that was around in the 1980’s. Tilth was a place to share your hardships and learn from other people. I never intended to join the Board of Directors, but when I did, it ended up being one of the best experiences I’ve had in my life. It taught me a lot about being in an organization and working with people in that context. I put a lot of time into it, but I also got a lot out of it. All around, it was a really rewarding experience.
As you head into your 30th year owning and operating Cliffside Orchard, what are your goals?
Our main goal is to some day be able to retire. Like a lot of older couples that are still farming, we’re thinking about how we can keep the farm going while transitioning away from being involved on fulltime basis.
Learn more about Jeff, Jeanette and Cliffside Orchards at their website http://www.cliffsideorchard.com/