LONGVIEW — Longview’s popular farm and plant nursery Watershed Garden Works is brimming with life: from goldenrod, Douglas aster and lupine to purple basil, Desert King Figs and sweet wild strawberries. As soon as one crop is harvested, another one is planted.
Despite challenges, like fending off starlings, deer and nutria, owners Scott and Dixie Edwards harvest enough produce from their 7.5 acres to fill the farm share bags that go out to customers each week.
The Edwardses and other Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs in the area are working to change lives. They are part of a larger movement in the area to educate and expose everyone — including children and the homeless — to the benefits of local, clean farming and food equality.
Scott and Dixie Edwards opened Watershed Garden Works in an unincorporated part of West Longview in 1993. The business has two identities: one as a native plant nursery and the other as an organic farm.
Four years ago, the Edwardses started offering a CSA program as a way to sustain their income during the plant nursery’s down season in the summer.
A full share costs $25 a week, for up to 16 weeks. A half-share costs $15 a week. In exchange, shareholders receive a weekly bag of whichever fruit, vegetables or herbs were picked that morning. The bags may also include samples of honey, prepared sauces, condiments and recipe suggestions.
Scott Edwards said the contents can vary dramatically and also include unusual or less well-known crops like okra. Okra seed pods are more common in southern states, he said, so people in southwest Washington might not know the best way to prepare it.
Including items like okra in the bags, along with healthy recipe suggestions, exposes the community to new culinary experiences. Plus, CSA members know that produce is harvested at a local, clean farm, Scott Edwards said.
“I like to know where my food comes from,” Scott Edwards said. “There’s a direct line between what we eat and our health. My body responds to good, clean food. It’s empowering to know that nothing has been sprayed (with pesticides).”
Watershed was previously certified organic by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and although they haven’t changed their practices since, they decided it was too expensive to continue re-qualifying, Dixie Edwards said.
While the organic certification may not have made sense financially for Watershed, Dixie Edwards said it does make financial sense for everyone to buy from local farmers, she said.
“If someone buys something from us for $1, studies have shown that $1 circulates eight times in the community. That’s a benefit for the entire community,” she said.
Watershed also offers the option to donate a share to local nonprofit Radical Love, which provides wholesome meals twice a week for the homeless and hungry. Dixie Edwards is on the Radical Love board and recently helped secure a $11,000 grant for the nonprofit to purchase freezers.
“We’ve been talking about healthy food for consumers, well it’s just as important to give nutritious food to people who don’t have any (money),” she said.
