A duty to the land, a duty to the community

One of our foundational beliefs here on the farm is that we have a responsibility to the land and our community. In Sarahlee’s own words, “I feel a duty to the land to steward it with the help of an amazing team.  We are dedicated to the plants and animals on the farm to give them the best life possible as they produce food for us. But, most importantly we have a duty to deliver the land’s abundance to our Central Oregon community.”

Since Rainshadow’s beginning in 2010, food access–connecting community to land and fresh produce–has been central. We believe all people deserve nutrient dense, local, organic food. In 2021 we approached this by:

  • Working with Neighbor Impact to coordinate gleaning days and for direct food donation when we had surplus. Last year we donated over 10,000 pounds of produce over the course of the growing season. 
  • In our Farm Store we can take SNAP benefits for groceries and, in 2021, we were able to provide our community with over $4,000 in vegetables, meats, grains, and preserves from our Farm Store.
  • We provide opportunities for community members to gain access to our CSAs by providing work trades for CSAs and taking SNAP benefits.
  • We provides opportunities for youth groups and therapy programs to get outside and learn about where their food comes from.
  • We open our fields to gleaning at the end of our growing season during our Customer Appreciation Day.
Families find treasures in the field during customer appreciation day; Students from REALMS Middle School help clear the flower patch of weeds; volunteers with Neighbor Impact harvest chard for area food pantries.
Photo credit: Brandon Marcaccini, Alison Holland, Neighbor Impact/HDFFA

This year we are excited to add an even bigger opportunity to widen access to food for members of our Central Oregon community who utilize SNAP benefits! We are partnering with Pacific Northwest CSA Coalition (PNWCSA) and High Desert Food and Farm Alliance (HDFFA) to offer Large and Small Vegetable Only CSAs and Small Meat and Vegetables CSAs at a beyond affordable price. This partnership combines Double Up Food Bucks scholarships and HDFFA private funding to reduce our CSAs to more than half off.

Double up food bucks

A community is only as strong as its parts. We are always searching for ways that we at Rainsahdow Organics can increase food access and strengthen our Central Oregon community. Thank you all for supporting that goal!

If you are interested in Rainshadow Organics CSA and have SNAP, please check out our SNAP and CSA page. We still have HDFFA funded shares available!

We have crafted some amazing events for May and are thrilled to share them with you!

We are very excited about our May 6th dinner! For this first May dinner we are partnering with Port Orford Sustainable Seafood and will be bringing their sustainably harvested fish offerings to our table in an incredible seafood feast. Chef Maraziti is excited to be featuring rockfish, sablefish, crab, and octopus along side Rainshadow’s certified organic vegetables and grains. The fishermen who caught the fish will join us on our porch during dinner and will be talking about sustainable, seasonal, line-caught fishing.

We hope you will join us for this unique and exciting dinner on May 6th.

Brunch: Sundays at 11 am

May 1
May 8 ~ Mother’s Day Brunch
May 15 
May 22 
May 29
Lunch & Educational Farm Tour: The Deschutes Water Basin

May 26
Dinners begin at 6 pm
May 6 ~ Sea-to-Table featuring Port Orford Sustainable Seafood
May 7 ~ Mother’s Day Dinner
May 14
May 20 

What is a CSA?

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) connects community members to their local farm in a mutually supportive relationship. By joining the Rainshadow Organics CSA through the purchase of your share, you become a member of the farm. Members and farmers each share in the risk and reward inherent in agriculture. Think of a shareholder in a large company, but instead of getting stock payouts, you get fresh vegetables and Rainshadow raised beef, pork, and chickens.

But CSA membership is more than the vegetables and meat in a share. Membership includes a weekly newsletter with farm news, recipes, and food storage & preservation tips; CSA member appreciation days; and a direct relationship with the people who grow your food. Our members truly become part of our family and seeing you weekly helps us develop stronger roots in the Central Oregon community. We feel strongly that members add value to the farm through shared desires to eat locally and enjoy certified organic, chemical free food.

At the core of Rainshadow is the understanding that the health and integrity of land and soil are the key ingredients that enable us to produce nutrient-dense foods to nourish our bodies and community. Rainshadow Organics embodies these values and knows their CSA members do too. We truly believe that when you become a member of our CSA program, your promise to us will benefit our farm, the Central Oregon economy, and your wellness. This becomes a win-win-win for our whole community allowing Central Oregon to thrive.

Why join a Rainshadow Organics summer CSA?

  • We are the only Certified Organic vegetable farm in Central Oregon with a CSA. We are deeply committed to our organic roots and want to provide you with Certified Organic ingredients – vegetables & grains for your wellness and peace of mind.
  • We believe that humans play a role in the system of our natural environment, and we take responsibility for giving back to the land that feeds us. Our farming practices focus on soil fertility through cover crops, soil testing, on-farm nutrient sourcing, and soil conservation practices, and we rotate crops each year to protect soil nutrients, reduce erosion, and increase the organic matter in our soil. This is very important during these dry times and helps our resilience.
  • Food grown at Rainshadow Organics, will only travel about 30 miles to reach you. On average, food at a traditional grocery store is estimated to travel 1,500 miles to reach your plate. The fewer miles your groceries travel, the less carbon footprint, and the less worry you have in your kitchen.
  • Shopping locally supports the Central Oregon economy. A 2017 study conducted in Central Oregon found that when a dollar was spent on a local food item, $0.76 remained in our local economy. Comparatively, each dollar spent on food from outside the region resulted in only $0.28 remaining in the local economy. Keeping these dollars in the local economy fuels jobs and profit, but it also helps to make our community more resilient to external economic forces.
You can find more information on our Summer CSAs HERE. And you can purchase your Summer CSA share HERE. 

Only 30 Summer CSAs still available.

Pay with your credit card or SNAP & Double Up Food Bucks. (HDFFA funding is still available!)

Catch our Farm Tour every Sunday in your Instagram Stories!

On Sundays we head behind the scenes and check out the details of Rainshadow Organics. Our goal is to give you a personal tour of what makes Rainshadow Organics what it is.

Do you have any questions about how we farm? Do you want to learn about something particular about Rainshadow? Have you always wanted to know how we choose what varieties we grow for the CSA? This is the Sunday Farm Tour for you!

There are lots of Sundays in a year! Suggest a farm tour theme or focus below!

Let us help you curate an event at our culinary destination!

Do you have a local business that is looking for a way to celebrate its employees? What about a company retreat? Would you like to plan your next family reunion on our farm? How about your best friend’s birthday party?

We are here to meet your Farm-to-Table private event needs. Send us an email at [email protected] so we can discuss your vision.