Coastal Life
Story by DAN HAAG
Submitted photo
Left: North Fork 53, a new agritourism destination in Nehalem, will host its Grand Opening at 4 p.m.
Saturday, Oct. 10. The event will feature a local food farm-to-table feast, live music, a ribbon cutting,
tours, local artist showcase and more.
North
Fork
53:
A place where good things meet
The Nehalem Valley’s first farmer-owned
agritourism food hub celebrates its grand opening
hey say good things
come to those who
wait. For those who
live in and visit the Ne-
halem Valley, the wait
is over. North Fork
53, a small organic
farmstead that offers
lodging,
hands-on
workshops, and farm-
to-table products and experiences, will
swing its big red barn doors open for a
Grand Opening Celebration from 4 to
9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10.
Travel just a short way up Oregon
Highway 53 outside of Nehalem, and
the hustle and bustle of beach tour-
ism fades into the quiet distance. The
scenery is straight from the musings of
John Muir, when he urged people to
“keep close to nature’s heart and break
clear away, once in a while, spend a
week in the woods. Wash your spirit
clean.”
It is here, in the heart of the Ne-
halem Valley that the dream that is
now North Fork 53 was born.
Ginger Edwards, founder and ex-
ecutive director of North Fork 53, has
called the Nehalem Valley home for
14 years and farmed it full-time for the
past seven. Her passion for knowing
T
4 | October 8, 2015 | coastweekend.com
where her food comes from is evi-
denced by her involvement in other
local ventures; she is head organic
farmer and founder of R-evolution
Gardens, also on Highway 53, and one
of the original organizers of the Man-
zanita Farmers Market.
When the property across the road
from R-evolution Gardens came up
for sale, the timing couldn’t have been
better.
“It’s a beautiful property, but it
had never really been on our radar,”
Edwards says. “When it came up for
sale, we started dreaming about the
possibilities.”
The property was an original
homestead from the 1930s and offered
a wealth of potential: a large red barn
perfect for big events and classes, and
a four-bedroom farm house overlook-
ing the north fork of the Nehalem Riv-
er.
Now, the house is undergoing a
rapid transformation. Edwards sees
the large, modern kitchen space as a
showcase for the property’s mission.
“Every bit of food they (visitors)
eat will be from this farm or a neigh-
boring farm,” she says.
North Fork 53 also provides visi-
tors with tours to see how the farm’s
More info
North Fork 53 is located
at 77282 Oregon Highway
53 in Nehalem. To inquire
about tickets ($80 to $100)
for the grand opening, or
for general information,
call 503-368-3044 or email
northforkginger@gmail.
com. Learn more
about the farm at
www.northfork53.com
food is grown, harvested and prepared.
Edwards adds that the interest in
sustainable and renewable living is
not a trend, but something people have
taken to heart. “They will feel more
connected to this place and want to
support local farms as they travel and
eat,” she says.
At R-evolution Gardens, Edwards
had begun to see that people were
seeking a well-rounded food experi-
ence. “We wanted to tap interest we’ve
been experiencing — of people just
pulling in our driveway and asking
questions, wanting tours,” she says.
It was notable that visitors were
not all from the local area; people
pulled off the road going to and from
Portland, Salem and beyond. Edwards
says all are curious about the farming
lifestyle and seeking answers on how
to grow and prepare their own food.
Photo by Dan Haag
Ginger Edwards prepares to hang the new sign for North Fork 53, a new local food and agritourism
destination in Nehalem.
It was a deeper interest level in
skills and techniques that many in
modern society either never learned
or simply forgot, such as canning and
pickling. “People want to have more
of those skills themselves, they want
to have their own gardens and teach
that to their kids,” she says.
North Fork 53 will offer the chance
for people to learn those skills and bet-
ter hone their ability to make healthy
choices. Visitors will be able to inter-
act with the people who grow and sell
their food.
Edwards, who teaches young
farmers, also sees the property as a
place where other small farmers can
“plug in to” and collectively pack,
store, cool and sell food.
She adds that it took years to make
her connections and build infrastruc-
ture. Her hope with North Fork 53 is
to not only pass on her knowledge to
prospective farmers, but to provide a
central place.
“It wasn’t just about our farm any-
more,” she says. “We started thinking
of it as a local food hub.”
Edwards is joined in her passion
for building a local food visitor’s cir-
cuit by Nehalem grass-fed beef and
pastured pork and poultry producers
Jared Gardner and Hilary Foote of
Nehalem River Ranch and Jeff Wong
of Community Supported Fishery in
Garibaldi.
North Fork 53’s grand opening will
serve as a showcase for that notion: a
farm-to-table feast featuring North
Coast organic vegetables, seafood, beef
and artisan foods, along with Oregon
beer and wine and a local art show.
One hundred tickets are for sale,
and they are going fast.
As North Fork 53 comes togeth-
er, Edwards is glad that the interest
in farming and healthy eating is more
than a trend, but part of a larger com-
munity-supported vision.
“All of this was community-fund-
ed,” she says of the farm’s renovations,
which were funded by a community
fundraising campaign. “None of it
came out of my pocket. This wouldn’t
have happened without community
support.”
Overall, Edwards wants visitors
to feel relaxed and become part of the
community. She wants them to walk
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in the joy the land has given her.
“I read this quote on the Internet
the other day,” she says. “It said, ‘If
you have more than you need, build a
table not a wall.’ That’s a really great
metaphor for this project.”