Today we’d like to introduce you to Jade Miller.
Jade, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Since 1967, our family has grown fresh produce on 1,500 acres on Sauvie Island. More than just a business, we are a family proud to run this local, family-owned operation. Whether you shop at our onsite market or your local grocery store, you can trust our fresh fruits and vegetable are grown with heritage and care. We love farming and take pride in growing over 60+ different crops and over 2 million pounds of pumpkins annually.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Farming is never easy, but always worth it. Different challenges come every year, making it harder to make money growing crops. Weather affects nearly every aspect of farming, from planting and growing to harvesting and selling crops. Right now, agricultural overtime is a complicated challenge. Unlike many business, farming is not your normal workweek. We harvest when the crop is ready and you cannot stop harvest at 40 hours simply because the workweek is over. This overtime pay is only increasing the cost of getting crops harvested and driving costs up of our produce up. Farming isn’t just about selling produce, but supporting employees, maintaining our equipment, and juggling unpredictable weather, and investing upfront on crops without any guarantee of profit. Farming is a hard livelihood, but very rewarding and our family loves it.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Here on our farm we’re known for our pumpkins! Our grandpa started a contract selling pumpkins to Albertsons distribution center & we’re still working to this day off that same contract. We hand harvest, label, and pack semi loads of pumpkins weekly through September and October for Albertson’s. Not only do we sell wholesale pumpkins, but we hand harvest hundreds of pounds for our retail market too. We grow over 20+ varieties of pumpkins here on our farm. We are all pumpkins at Portland’s Original Pumpkin Patch on Sauvie Island.
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
The industry evolves every year, but we’re hoping to continue adding attractions and draw customers in June through October on our farm! Social media is a huge part of our business and I think to stay relevant in this day and age it’s important to continue to grow every year and stay ahead of the trends.
Pricing:
- Our pumpkins range from $2-$15 on our farm! Some of our customers have picked pumpkins from our u-pick field that are nearly 100lbs & those pumpkins will only cost the customer $15.
- Here on our farm we sell quality produce hand harvested from our fields with low prices!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thepumpkinpatch.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theoriginalpumpkinpatch/?hl=en
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thepumpkinpatchsauvieisland
