Farm Visits

LOCAL FLAVORS

Corvallis is a farmer’s paradise— surrounded by land with rich soils and a mild climate. Enjoy the bounty from the Willamette Valley’s rich agriculture scene by way of farm-fresh foods and other goods. Take a tour or plan a farm stay, stop into one of the farmers markets and make a few stops along the Mid-Willamette Valley Food Trail.

Peoria Road Farm Market

Mid-Willamette Valley Food Trail

Explore working farms in the region at your own pace with the self-guided Mid-Willamette Valley Food Trail highlighting the agricultural treasures found in Linn and Benton Counties. Prime time on the farms is typically between May and October.

Stop along farms at one of four routes—A Taster’s Tour from Corvallis to Albany, the Makers and Innovators Tour from Philomath to Albany, the Flora and Fauna Tour from Alsea to Corvallis, and the Family Fun for All from Sweet Home to Philomath.

Enjoy an engaging and unique experience at one of the working farms along the trail. Check with individual stops for hours and details and remember to find something you like along the way to bring a taste of your journey back home with you.

Pick up a copy of this year’s brochure at the Visit Corvallis visitor center or find it online at midvalleyfoodtrail.com.

Farms and u-pick experiences

Just south of Philomath, visit Gathering Together Farm, a certified organic vegetable and fruit farm since 1987. Eat at the restaurant, take a tour and learn about their CSA and VSA food boxes, which feed hundreds of families.

Closer to Corvallis, stop into Davis Family Farms for hanging baskets and farm grown strawberries. In the fall, come for hayrides through the pumpkin fields and other harvest-time activities.

In Monroe, Lilliputopia is a tiny eco-farm promoting conservation and sustainability. From April through October find seasonal organic vegetables and handmade gifts–100% local.

Ready to harvest some blueberries? Several farms in the area have you covered. Located in Corvallis is Anderson Blues, a non-certified organic farm commited to providing fresh blueberries with no harmful chemicals. Pre-order their berries, or head to the farm, grab a bucket and pick them yourself!

Or, head south to Kiger Island, formed by a fork between the Willamette River and the Boonville Channel. Kiger Island Blues offers varieties of northern highbush blueberries. While you pick blueberries, ask the owner for tips on growing your own blueberries at home.

Catch these different foods and products in their best season:

Flowers: April-July Strawberries: May-June Blueberries: June-July Apples and Cider: September-October Pumpkins: September-October Wine Harvest: September-October Hazelnuts: October-November

Farmers markets

Let the farm come to you at the area’s seasonal markets. The Corvallis Farmers’ Market is open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesdays and Saturdays from mid-April through November, on First Street between Jackson and Monroe Avenues downtown. Hear live music and shop for local foods from a changing lineup of twenty to thirty vendors on Wednesdays and fifty to seventy vendors each Saturday. Head west to the Philomath Farmers’ Market, run by Bountiful Backyard, a nonprofit helping people become more efficient and friendlier with the earth. They will have a unique CSA (community-supported agricultural system) market. Just east of town at Midway Farms is North Albany Farmers Market. Vendors sell exclusively gluten-free products–even the baked goods!

Also east is the Peoria Road Farm Market, a permanent structure that comes alive seasonally, opening in late April, to offer farm-fresh fruits, vegetables and freshly picked flowers.

Farm stays

There’s no better place to experience the simple pleasures of life on a working farm than here. Visit Leaping Lamb Farm in Alsea, 24 miles toward the coast from Corvallis along Highway 34, for a chance to try delicious fresh foods and breathe in fresh country air. The farm offers overnight stays in a two-bedroom farm cottage or a four-bedroom farmhouse. Guests are invited to pitch in with farm chores and feed the animals. In the fall, choose and cut down your Christmas tree and bring it home after a stay in one of the Donovan’s Place guest homes, located on a Christmas tree farm on the edge of Corvallis. This new family tradition will be loved by the whole family. There’s also a ceramic pottery studio open year-round.

Book the vintage 1930s cabin at Lumos Wine Company west of Philomath If your idea of a farm stay involves complimentary wine tastings. Take in the scenery and sip award-winning wine from organic grapes grown on the property.

Gardens and nurseries

Visit The Thyme Garden near Alsea for a lunchtime tour in the summer and see how the herbs you use in the kitchen are grown. Walk through the greenhouses and the aromatherapy conservatory before sitting down to a meal of seasonal dishes using some of the nursery’s 700 varieties of herbs and plants.

In Philomath, stop by Shonnard’s Nursery for flowers and gardening supplies or visit Greengable Garden, a florist and flower farm that grows daffodils, tulips, irises and sunflowers.

North of town, visit Garland Nursery, a fourth-generation family-owned shop with more than six acres of trees, shrubs and flowers—plus a great gift shop!

Corvallis Farmers Market

Garland Nursery Lumos Wine Company