VIRIDIAN FARMS - meet the farmers

	Our family farm is located on Grand Island, Oregon and we have been farming for three generations. Like our parents --and our grandparents-- we grow fruit and vegetables for local markets and work to minimize our impact on the environment. We are fanatic about seasonal, regional cuisine; and we pay our workers a fair living wage. Quite simply, we strive to make the right choices for our farm, our customers, and the land we all share. Everyone is involved in all facets of farming, from planting seeds to picking fruit and selling it at market. In addition, we each have our own special areas of expertise:
	*Elisabeth* is our Customer Relations Attaché. She greets everyone with a smile at the farmers market, and assists in chef deliveries. Her keen interest in gastronomy has led her to experiment with many of the items we grow... just ask her about berggarten sage. Don't let her petite figure fool you, though -- Elisabeth can easily carry 3 peach boxes (that's over 65 pounds!) numerous times when we are in a hurry to unload for market.
	*Leslie* is co-owner of the farm and as our Farm Operations Manager, heads up most of the activities “back at the ranch.” She’s also in charge of volunteer efforts on behalf of our farm. Leslie has two weaknesses: heirloom winter squash (we grew over 18 varieties last year); and the calls from Mulhacen and Alpujarra for her to play with them.
	Manuel (aka “Lolo”) is the other co-owner of the farm and is our Marketing Guy --literally taking our goods to market. When he isn't out working in the fields, he loves to talk about the latest seeds he found in Europe, and how the plants are doing on the farm. Always on-the-go, he is constantly planning the farm's growth; and daydreams about his next seed-hunting trip ...or a shiny new tractor.
	*Pablo* is our orchard crop and strawberry specialist. He often conducts little experiments to test different growing approaches for our specific microclimate on Grand Island. If you see a new tractor implement/tool/gadget being used in the field -- no doubt it got there because of Pablo. He loves to acquire new farm toys for everyone to enjoy.

*Boo-boo* has been at the farm for several years now, and helps keep an eye on our other little crew members by patroling the farm for coyotes & nutria. He also lets us know right away if anything (or anyone) is "lurking about" on the farm...
*Bubba* is Boo-boo's big brother. weighing in at a little over 150 pounds, he's great at keeping those coyotes at bay. Bubba likes to go hunting at night, and can give you quite a scare if you are working on irrigation in the moonlight!
*Chuleta* ("lambchop") is in charge of grounds maintenance and leftover produce consumption. Her favorite days of the week are market days, especially when we may have picked a few too many berries.
*Duncan*, a black lab, is one of the younger members of the group. With a tendency to go on walkabout, he has an enormous amount of energy for such a small dog; and keeps going, and going, and going, and going...
Mulhacen and Alpujarra are brother and sister French Alpine goats, and were born at Fraga Farm. They keep Chuleta company, and entertain us is the evenings with their antics and acrobatic antics while playing "king of the tree-stump." Born in the Spring of 2007, they are growing fast and have quite an appetite. Mulhacen (pronounced Mool-ha-sen) is named after the tallest peak in the Alpujarra (pronounced Al-pu-har-a)mountain range of the Sierra Nevada in southern Spain.
Rodrigo is the newest member of the crew. He was abandoned (but luckily found by us!) and is a Red Bone Coon Hound. Fortunately, he made friends with the other dogs quickly, especially his older brother Romero. An energetic, and curious little puppy -- Rodrigo is always exploring and discovering new things around the farm.
*Romero* was adopted at the Oregon Humane Society and came to the farm with Manuel & Leslie. Adept at rodent control, you can often find Romero with his entire head in the ground, as he digs after moles or gophers (that eat the roots of our young trees/plants).

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