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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 27, 2021
People & Places
Farm offers the usual — and something different
By ALIYA HALL
For the Capital Press
NEWBERG, Ore. —
Annie Brown of Dolce
Farm and Orchards likes
to offer three categories of
fruit preserves to her cus-
tomers: what they know,
what they should know and
what they don’t know.
“I enjoy it, that’s the
most important thing, and
it’s nice to have people taste
something they’ve never
had before,” Brown said.
“Most people haven’t had
chutney or tasted a black
currant.”
Dolce produces micro-
batch chutneys and fruit
preserves, as well as raw
honey and hazelnuts that are
grown organically.
Brown’s fruit choices
are influenced by her trav-
els abroad, and she sells the
products at local farmers
markets.
Brown and her husband,
Kevin, bought their 50-acre
property in 2003. Origi-
nally, Kevin wanted to grow
Pinot noir grapes, but when
their crops kept failing they
planted hazelnuts instead.
They now have 45 acres of
Oregon’s most popular nuts.
The other 5 acres are
Annie’s domain. She grows
a wide variety of fruits and
nuts, including: walnuts,
persimmons, several plum
varieties, quinces, black and
red currants, Marionber-
ries, loganberries, haskaps,
seedless table grapes, tay-
berries, blackberries, rasp-
berries, elderberries, several
cherry varieties, peaches
and medlars.
“I like different, unusual
berries more than the stan-
dard berries; it’s more inter-
esting,” she said. “We have
Established 1928
Capital Press Managers
Western
Innovator
DOLCE FARM
AND ORCHARDS
Kevin Brown
Age: 64.
Occupation: Farmer,
business software
developer, freelance
musician.
Aliya Hall/For the Capital Press
Education: Indiana
University.
Annie and Kevin Brown own Dolce Farm and Orchards in Newberg, Ore. They
bought their 50-acre property in 2003.
Ann Brown
enough of a mono-crop
here. Having that diver-
sity, it’s richer and more
fulfilling.”
The inspiration for
Brown’s fruit choices
comes from her time living
abroad with her husband.
They have lived in or visited
Austria, Germany, England,
Italy, France, China and
South Africa.
“I remember the first
time I saw red currants.
I was in Austria and they
were in this little basket,”
she said. “It was fresh and
sour, and I was like, ‘Wow!
What are these?’”
Brown learned to can
from her mother and grand-
mother. Her grandmother
grew up on a farm in Penn-
sylvania and raised 10 kinds
of apples, some of which
they dried, others they made
into applesauce and some
they kept fresh.
“When you have so
much fruit and a plethora of
Occupation: Farmer,
instructor of bassoon at
Oregon State University.
pears, what are you going to
do with all that fruit? You
make pear butter and pear
jelly,” she said.
All of the processing is
done in her kitchen, and
her yield each year depends
on what grows. Sometimes
she’ll make a batch that is
only two to three jars and
sometimes it’s up to 10 to
14.
“So if something is fruit-
ful, something else might
not be; we didn’t have much
haskap this year,” she said.
“It ebbs and flows with the
warming climate and things
changing.”
Although Dolce Farm is
a micro-operation, Brown
wants to keep it that way.
She said she makes enough
for markets but she doesn’t
have any interest going to
the grocery store or process-
ing the preserves elsewhere.
The biggest challenge
that Brown faces is being
deemed too “exotic” by
customers. Interest in cer-
tain fruits or berries varies
depending on which farm-
ers markets she attends,
adding that it can be dif-
ficult to plan for different
palates.
“If I enjoy it, I’ll make it
no matter what,” she said.
“It’s chutney, but I love it.
Like black currant. Maybe
it doesn’t move as fast, but
it’s truly magnificent.”
The biggest reward for
Brown is when a customer
falls in love with some-
thing new. Unexpectedly,
she said, many of those cus-
tomers are children. She has
even had one child spend his
allowance on her preserves.
“It’s really exciting when
kids will try black currant
jam and be like, ‘Mommy I
want that,’” she said. “You
wouldn’t think kids would
want these really unusual,
unique flavors. Sometimes
I make tomato jams with
spices they have in South
Joe Beach ..................... Editor & Publisher
Anne Long ................. Advertising Director
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2021
EO Media Group
dba Capital Press
An independent newspaper
published every Friday.
Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is
published weekly by EO Media Group,
2870 Broadway NE, Salem OR 97303.
Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR,
and at additional mailing offices.
Age: 64.
Education: Oberlin
College, bachelor’s of
music; master’s studies,
Cincinnati Conservatory
of Music.
Family: Two sons, Bran-
ko, 23, and Aleksandar,
22.
Dolce Farm
and Orchard
Location: Newberg,
Ore.
Crops: Hazelnuts,
walnuts, fruits, berries,
chickens, eggs and
honey, plus jams and
preserves.
Information: www.
facebook.com/dolce-
farmor/
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Company sells WSU cheese in airport vending machine
By MATTHEW WEAVER
Capital Press
PULLMAN, Wash. — A new
company has come up with a unique
way to sell Washington State Univer-
sity’s Cougar Gold cheese — a vend-
ing machine.
Sky High Cheese LLC has installed
the vending machine selling several
WSU specialty cheeses at the Pull-
man-Moscow Regional Airport.
“This might sound a little cheesy,
but I was looking for a hobby that
would allow me to use my creativity
and I thought a small business would
be something fun to do,” Jeff Reed,
owner of Sky High Cheese, told the
Capital Press.
Reed grew up in Pullman, where
WSU’s main campus is, and loves
all the cheeses produced by WSU’s
creamery. He graduated from WSU in
2007 with a business degree, special-
izing in marketing.
“I thought that a vending machine
would be a unique way to sell the
cheese and ... convince many people
unable to get to the WSU Creamery,”
Reed said.
The vending machine has been
Sky High Cheese LLC
Sky High Cheese LLC recently be-
gan selling cheese from Washing-
ton State University’s creamery
in a vending machine at the Pull-
man-Moscow Regional Airport.
in operation for a week, and so far
demand has been “Gouda,” Reed said.
The machine sells four types of
cheese: Cougar Gold, an aged white
cheddar; Viking, a white cheese sim-
ilar to Monterey Jack; Crimson Fire,
with hot peppers added; and Natural
Cheddar.
Each tin costs $40.
The tins are Transportation Secu-
rity Administration-approved for car-
ry-on or checked bags, Reed said.
The vending machine currently
only takes cash, but will begin tak-
ing credit card payments by the end of
August.
“It is interesting and creative,”
said John Haugen, the WSU Cream-
ery manager. “Cougar Gold has been
available to buy at the airport at times,
but not as visible as this.”
Because the price is similar to other
local resellers, Haugen expects the
business to do fairly well.
“We have allotments for local
resellers,” he said. “We don’t want to
run out of cheese too early in the year.”
The creamery produces eight
batches a week. A batch uses 15,500
pounds of milk, or about 1,800 gal-
lons, to make about 850 cans.
“Because we are still running out
of cheese every year before holiday
season is over, we haven’t wanted to
add more resellers which could cause
us to run out earlier,” Haugen said.
Ferdinand’s, the creamery’s main
shop, has limited hours, so the cream-
ery tries to make sure local resellers in
Pullman have enough cheese.
“However, if we run out, every-
body runs out,” Haugen said. “We
keep working on making more cheese.
The pandemic and remote classes have
slowed us down a bit, but we are still
making more than previous years.”
The vending machine currently
only sells WSU cheese.
“We have looked at the possibil-
ity of adding other WSU products,
but that would be in the future,” Reed
said, adding that he wants to see how
the cheese sells.
He might be willing to investigate
the future use of University of Idaho
products, he added.
Reed sees possibilities in the vend-
ing machine as a place for customers
to purchase gifts for family, friends or
just to take home for themselves.
“I believe that there was enough of
a demand to pursue this opportunity
and I thought it was something fun
for Pullman — how often do you see
a cheese vending machine?” he said.
“My favorite comments so far have
been ‘This is the most Pullman thing
ever,’ and ‘All you need is a wine
vending machine next to it and you’re
set.’”
Eastern Oregon town is gone, but its namesake store remains
By LISA BRITTON
EO Media Group
PONDOSA, Ore. — Bob Bennett is just three
years older than the Pondosa Store, where he’s
been selling cold drinks and ice cream since 1983.
Bob, now 98, was born in 1923.
The store was built in 1926 to serve Pondosa,
a mill town about 25 miles north of Baker City in
eastern Oregon.
Pondosa as a town no longer exists. But Bob is
happy to share the story with anyone who happens
by his remote store.
Although Pondosa was home to 500 people
at one time, it was wholly dependent on a lum-
ber mill. The mill closed in 1959 — just one year
after the area was named the geographic center of
the United States with the addition of Alaska and
Hawaii.
“They were going to name it Centerville,
U.S.A., but the town closed up,” said Lori Brock,
Bob’s daughter, who moved to Pondosa several
years ago.
Lester Gaddy, brother to Bob’s wife, Jean, saw
an advertisement in the Eugene Register-Guard
newspaper.
“The whole town. For sale,” Lori said.
Lester, she said, “traded three city blocks for
the whole town.”
Lester died in 1982, and left his property to
Jean, his only sister.
Jean and Bob Bennett faced a decision: sell the
Pondosa property, or sell their Eugene home and
move to Eastern Oregon.
“I had a debate on it,” Bob remembers.
He’d lived in Eugene all of his life, and had
recently retired from Georgia-Pacific, a timber
company.
But he was tired of the rain west of the Cas-
cades. So the couple sold their place and moved
to Pondosa in 1983.
“All this nice sunshine and fresh air,” Bob said.
“It was a good idea. I kept busy over here.”
Although the houses had been sold and moved
to other towns nearby, Bob discovered a huge pile
of sawdust left at the mill site.
He can point it out, too, on the aerial photo of
Pondosa that hangs on the wall of the store. He set
to grinding up that sawdust and started selling it
as garden mulch.
“I’d deliver it in 5-yard loads all over,” he said.
That kept him busy for a while, until the pile
finally disappeared.
“It took 20 years,” he said with a smile.
While he worked at that, Jean ran the store.
“People yet talk about her. She’d visit with
everybody,” Bob said.
Jean passed away in 2015. During her illness,
she and Bob lived in Nampa, Idaho, with Lori and
her husband, Dennis.
After Jean died, Lori thought her father might
stay in Idaho with her. But he returned to Pondosa
in the winter of 2015.
CALENDAR
Submit upcoming ag-related
events on www.capitalpress.com
or by email to newsroom@capital-
press.com.
THROUGH AUG. 29
Western Idaho Fair: Expo
Idaho, 5610 Glenwood St., Boise.
Website: www.idahofair.com
AUG. 27-SEPT. 6
Oregon State Fair: Oregon
State Fair & Exposition Center, 2330
17th St. NE, Salem, Ore. We’re look-
ing forward to welcoming you back
to the fair. Website: https://oregon-
statefair.org/
SEPT. 1-3
Idaho Grower Shippers Asso-
ciation Annual Convention: Sun
Valley Resort, 1 Sun Valley Road, Sun
Valley, Idaho. The event focuses on
Idaho potato industry. Includes meet-
ings of industry groups, updates on
research, marketing and policy, recre-
ational and networking events. Web-
site: https://bit.ly/3madKtP
SEPT. 3-11
Eastern Idaho State Fair: East-
ern Idaho Fairgrounds, 97 Park St.,
Blackfoot, Idaho. The daily schedule
and entertainment line-up will be
published in June. Website: https://
funatthefair.com/
SEPT. 3-26
Washington State Fair: Wash-
ington State Fair Events Center, 110
9th Ave. SW, Puyallup, Wash. Open
Labor Day weekend. Closed Tues-
days and Sept. 8. Website: https://
www.thefair.com/
TUESDAY SEPT. 7
NRCS Idaho State Technical
Advisory Committee Meeting
(virtual): 9 a.m.-noon. Group meets
three times per year to advise NRCS
and other USDA agencies on carry-
ing out Farm Bill conservation pro-
visions. Includes representatives of
various natural resource and agri-
cultural interests such as agen-
cies, ag producers and tribes. Web-
site: https://bit.ly/3fUNorS Contact:
mindi.rambo@usda.gov
WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY
SEPT. 8-10
Public Lands Council 53rd
Annual Meeting (live and
online): Best Western Ocean View
Resort, 414 N Prom, Seaside, Ore.
The meeting provides a forum
for producers to discuss current
and emerging issues with federal
agencies, industry partners and
lawmakers. Website: www.publi-
clandscouncil.org
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Markets .................................................10
Opinion ...................................................6
CORRECTION
The original version of
a story and an editorial
about the #TimberUnity ef-
fort to provide hay to Klam-
ath Basin farmers included
an inaccurate quantity. The
July 24 convoy delivered
nearly 200 tons of feed.
The story and editorial
have also been corrected
on www.capitalpress.com.
The Capital Press regrets
the error.
Correction policy
Accuracy is important to Capital Press
staff and to our readers.
If you see a misstatement, omission or
factual error in a headline, story or photo
caption, please call the Capital Press news
department at 503-364-4431, or send
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We want to publish corrections
to set the record straight.