YEP YEP FARM'S JASON WALIGOSKE
SHOWS THE PLANTS' ROOT SYSTEM
GROWING
CONCERN
J
ason Waligoske and his wife, Louisa Waligoske,
are farmers.
They have a dilapidated collection of
outbuildings and greenhouses on the 4.6-
acre former plant nursery site in Dexter they
purchased two years ago. The couple battles poison oak
while tending greens and tomatoes and checking their
water lines. They use amendments listed as acceptable
by Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI). They’re
organic farmers, right?
They think so, but a bureaucratic movement
might change that.
“Large organic soil farmers are lobbying for a
change to organic regulations,” Jason Waligoske
says. “They see farms like ours as a threat to their
profits.”
The Waligoskes practice aquaponics and
aquaculture. Water in four 1,000-gallon tanks
holding tilapia flows through an interconnected
system of troughs holding 4,000 to 5,000 plants and 6,500
gallons of water. The only inputs are fish food pellets for
the tilapia, an air pump and a water pump. Nutrient-rich
water from the fish tanks, with the fish droppings filtered
out, is pumped into the plant troughs to feed the plants and
is then re-circulated into the fish tanks.
Though the Waligoskes have yet to eat any of their
tilapia, the fish can eventually be harvested.
“The only additive we use is a little bit of ferrous sulfate
because the groundwater is naturally low in iron,” Jason
Waligoske says. “We use the OMRI-listed organic SaferGro
brand. This way of growing can be done in a totally humane,
sustainable way, that’s good for the environment.”
“Seventy-five gallons a day for 4,000 plants,” Louisa
Waligoske adds. “We only use about 5 percent of the water
that soil agriculture does.”
Jason Waligoske owns New Frontier Market in Eugene,
which is a big outlet for the couple’s produce. Last year, Louisa
Waligoske says, they grew everything a soil farm could grow
for a farmstand, including root crops and tomatoes.
They have 100 chicks and will be selling eggs by April.
They plan to build a “food forest” with fruit trees, worm
composting and mobile coops for ducks and chickens.
PHOTO BY TODD COOPER
Yep Yep Farm fights to
stay organic BY VANESSA SALVIA
Not to mention, he says, plastic mulches and irrigation
systems can leach harmful PCBs and other contaminants
into soil.
Oregon Tilth certifies the farm’s produce, including
chickens, and Jason Waligoske wants that to continue.
Aquaponic produce and hydroponics can be certified
when done organically and proven, but there is no U.S.
certification for fish or aquaculture. Animals grown for
consumption, with the exception of aquatic animals, do
have a certification in the U.S. Certifying boards will
follow whatever standard the National Organic
Standards Board votes to accept for aquaponics
and aquaculture. “We know information about
this was put in front of NOSB in November, and
they’re supposed to keep thinking about it,” Jason
Waligoske says.
In December, Jason Waligoske met with
the Organically Grown Company. He says
Organically Grown was helpful, and will
continue to consider Yep Yep’s products, but are reluctant
to stock aquaponic produce until the NOSB says that it can
continue to be certified.
Jason Waligoske says he was disillusioned with society
as a teenager. The Rainbow Family lifestyle resonated
with him, so he chose to drop out and live in the woods,
backpacking, hitchhiking and traveling. “At some point I
had the realization that if I was ever going to change the
world I would have to work from within society,” he says.
Fighting to keep aquaculture organic could be the way
he does it.
‘At some point I had the realization that
if I was ever going to change the world
I would have to work from within society.’
6
CHOW WINTER 2017
— JASON WALIGOSKE
This year, they’re going to try vertical strawberries. Since
tilapia is a tropical fish, they might switch to trout.
“We can reduce our energy use even further because trout
don’t mind cold, unheated water,” Louisa Waligoske says.
The fish water supports a variety of microgreens. “Sun-
flower, pea, broccoli, radish, daikon, cress and cilantro,”
she says. As of now, their microgreens, nasturtium blos-
soms and the juiciest, lemoniest sorrel are their specialties.
One of the misunderstandings of aquaculture is that
aquaponics plants are grown in GMO sludge. “Not
true,” Jason Waligoske says. “But a soil farm can still be
considered organic if it uses conventional chicken manure
from birds that are fed GMOs.”
Find Yep Yep Farms’ produce at New Frontier Market, local farmers markets
and Rain Northwest restaurant, or visit yepyeporganicfarm.com.
EUGENEWEEKLY.COM/CHOW