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CapitalPress.com
Friday, April 8, 2022
Bridges Orchard: Public rediscovers fresh fruit
By HEATHER SMITH THOMAS
For the Capital Press
WENATCHEE. Wash. — Lee
Bridges grew up on his parents’ farm
near Wenatchee, Wash., in a small
community called Sunnyslope.
“My parents purchased the land in
the mid-1940s, and part of it was an
orchard,” Lee said. “My brothers and
I grew up working in the orchard.”
His oldest brother became a pro-
fessor at a community college in
California, and his other brother
was a superior court judge in Chelan
County, Wash.
“I went to college but after grad-
uation in 1974 came back and
started farming with my dad. I don’t
think any of us siblings enjoyed the
orchard when we were young; we
just thought it was a lot of hard work!
But it drew me back,” he said.
His parents started packing their
own apples in the late 1940s. They
continued until about 1965 when
apples had to be waxed.
“We didn’t have a waxer on our
Lee and Cassandra Bridges.
packing line. When I came back to
the farm I started taking apples to
warehouses and after about 5 years
decided to start packing my own
again,” Lee said.
He bought a waxer and dryer for
apples and pears, and shipped them
himself until about 2004.
“I started taking them to other
warehouses again, but the past 7
years I’ve been selling direct to cus-
tomers through our small self-service
fruit stand,” Lee said. “I also sell to
some hard-cider producers; I grow
a lot of heirloom varieties that make
good cider.”
The orchard also grows sweet
cherries. The cherries and some of
the pears are sold through the fruit
stand, but some cider-makers buy the
Bartlett pears for hard cider.
This is a good location for grow-
ing fruit but farmland is dwindling as
the city expands.
“When I was young this was all
farms. Now we are almost the last
farm left. There’s a school on one
side of my orchard, and houses and
apartments on the other. With peo-
ple nearby, spraying is an issue, but I
work around school hours and make
it work for everyone. I have a good
relationship with the school and
other neighbors.”
Some folks enjoy having an
orchard next door, and became
customers.
“The first year of COVID, sales
took a hit, but eventually more peo-
ple wanted something besides buy-
ing at a grocery store,” he said. “It’s
nice to see young people coming
back to buy fruit.”
They are discovering traditional
sources of food, he added.
“I’m happy to see the younger
generation going back to some of
the things their parents did — buy-
ing fresh fruit, canning, etc. I’ve
talked to other growers and this is
what they are finding also.
“At first, people didn’t know what
to do when COVID hit, then began
buying locally grown food, fruit to
make their own applesauce, fruit for
canning, etc. and this is very encour-
aging,” Lee said.
The orchard is a lot of work but he
does almost all of it himself.
“I hire one couple to help occa-
sionally but otherwise I do it myself.
As I get older I’m not as fast as I
used to be, but the most discourag-
ing thing is all the regulations for
small businesses. It makes it hard to
hire anyone because of all the paper-
work,” he said.
“We had a lot of cherries at one
time and 50 or 60 workers. My wife,
Cassandra, helped me do the book-
work but as things progressed it
became too much bookwork, and all
the food safety rules when we were
taking fruit to warehouses,” he said.
“I am not against food safety, but the
amount of paperwork took all the
enjoyment out of farming! It detracted
from what I really liked to do.”
Thank You Berry Much: U-pick
operation keeps family busy
By GEOF PARKS
For the Capital Press
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S214651-1
SALEM, Ore. — Once
they get past the smile-in-
ducing name of the business,
customers at Thank You
Berry Much blueberry farm
in east Salem can settle into
finding the best way to bring
home the product.
Cristina Wheeler, who
with her husband, Mike,
purchased the 10 acres that
are home to nearly 3 acres
of blueberries in 2013 after
living in nearby Keizer for
18 years. Prior to the pur-
chase, the 1970s-era farm
had been a mostly commer-
cial operation.
The Wheeler family,
which includes a son, Jon-
athon, and daughter, Julia,
chose to transform the berry
crop to a full-time U-pick
operation. The farm features
Geoff Parks/For the Capital Press
Cristina Wheeler checks
the buds on her blueber-
ries at Thank You Berry
Much Farm in east Salem.
varieties such as Earliblue,
Blueray, Bluecrop, Olympia
and Jersey.
Mike Wheeler is a for-
ester appraiser for Northwest
Farm Credit Services, while
“queen of the farm” Cristina
works as a Spanish translator
for the City of Salem. She is
also an avid beekeeper.
The couple started their
blueberry operation with just
a horse trailer on their prop-
erty that was converted into a
U-pick stand.
“It was the only structure
we had,” she said, and the
rudimentary operation pro-
duced “a lot of leftover ber-
ries” that ended up being
picked by food bank workers.
“Every year we figured
something else out and every
year something new would
come up,” she said. “It was a
little overwhelming.”
They built a barn a few
years later and the Wheel-
ers set up a store and U-pick
operations center. Last year,
the U-pick berries were
priced at $1.25 per pound.
Those who just wanted to
bring home berries with-
out the U-pick experience
could purchase “Ready
Pick” quarts at the stand for
$3.75 with larger quantities
available.