COAST RIVER BUSINESS JOURNAL
SEPTEMBER 2019 • 7
COVER STORY
‘Growing it is easy. Getting it harvested, packaged and out the door is the hardest
part. It’s been amazing though — i’m outside everyday and i love it.’
ANITA DOTSON | Nancanicum fresh farm
more than 100 towering tomatoes
plants in late August.
“I quit my regular paycheck job. It
was time for a change.”
Anita left her job as a dental assis-
tant, a position she held the past 30
years, to commit to farming full time
while her husband Bill continues to
work as a Tillamook County truck
mechanic.
Anita credited Clatsop County Dis-
trict Conservationist Thomas Gher-
kens of the National Resources Con-
servation Service Oregon (NRCS)
program, a branch of the USDA,
with helping get the farm established,
including introducing them to pro-
grams that aided construction.
NRCS offers a variety of programs
to help farmers, ranchers, family for-
ests, Tribes, and conservation part-
ners perform voluntary conservation
on private lands, funded through the
Farm Bill.
“They help you with your farm and
give you money for different things
like greenhouses, to help farmers get
their crops going,” Anita explained.
Farm began with a bee box
Anita and Bill credit one another
for giving rise to the farm, but both
agree it started with a simple bee box.
“He wanted bees, so I bought him
a bee box,” Anita said regarding the
2013 gift.
The bees produced a little honey
the first year, just enough for Bill to
sell a small amount at the end of the
season.
LUKE WHITTAKER
Bill Dotson inspects a tomato plant at Necanicum Fresh Farm in late August.
“The first year was mostly about
learning,” Bill said. “And the success
rate wasn’t very good.”
Still, Anita was inspired by what
she witnessed.
“I saw him selling honey and
thought I could sell some vegetables
or flowers, so I started selling flow-
ers,” she said.
The Dotsons took remnants of a
former dog kennel and built a 6x8 foot
greenhouse the following summer,
their first official foray into farming.
The following season, aided by
Gherkins, they built the first of two
16x50 foot greenhouses, added garden
beds and started growing and selling
vegetables.
NEW LISTINGS
500 38th Street
Astoria
CANNON BEACH
255 N Hemlock Ste B1
503.436.1027
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503.738.8522
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Pam Birmingham
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Gearhart
3182 Sunset Blvd
Seaside
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Robin Bair 503-440-5220
Jenny Frank 503-440-1973
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