People + Place ~ Truckin’: Yvonne Krause

A monthly feature written and photographed by Southwest Washington native and Emmy Award-winning journalist Hal Calbom

proDuction notes

Harvest Home

I loved gett I ng to know the indefatigable Yvonne Krause. She reminded me that farmers markets are ultimately about bringing the harvest home.

My grandparents lived on adjacent streets — Fir and Field Streets in Longview — and shared an alley between them. I could walk in a minute from backyard to backyard. Those backyards were gardens, not grassy lawns. Mostly vegetables with a few flowery adornments around the edges, they were, above all, functional. Food for the family. There wasn’t a swing set, tetherball pole, or gas barbecue in sight. I knew both sets of grandparents had been raised on farms, so assumed this was family tradition. But I noticed most of the other houses had gardens off the alley, and other habits in common, too. The state of the garden became a kind of barometer for the state of life in general. The subject of the weather, rather than just superficial filler when you didn’t have anything more important to talk about, was a vital source of daily interest and conversation. Rain or shine, the gardeners worked hard to give each of their rows a fighting chance, and rooted them on, literally, from seedlings to supper table. Then there was canning. A kind of obsession, it seemed to a kid, often involving trips to a big steamy building full of boiling cauldrons and sweaty people. We schlepped crates home in the family station wagon or pickup to winter in our garages, pantries and basements.

My more generous older soul realizes these were generational rituals, yes, but also testaments to survival. Raised through The Depression, that generation husbanded (and wived) its food like money. They fed their children not just from the market or corner store, but from their own back yards, root cellars, tin cans, and Mason jars. •••

people+ place

Truckin’: Yvonne Krause

“I got into the produce business through the back door,” she says. Growing up in Vernonia, part country girl, Yvonne Krause raised a barnyard full of animals. Pigs were the favorites, hungry all the time. Yvonne began stopping by a nearby produce stand, gleaning any vegetables or fruits past their prime and headed for the compost pile out back. The owners of Jo’s Country Market — still a fixture in Clatskanie — took to the shy teenager and offered her a part time job. Yvonne grew up, bought Jo’s, and sells seasonal produce there today. What’s more, she anchors a sophisticated network of growers, truckers, and marketers stretching up and down the river. Logging thousands of miles on country roads, loading hundreds of pounds of fresh produce, displaying dozens of varieties on the grass, under a tent — their common destination is the local farmer’s market. I think it’s even more American than apple pie. After all — no market, no apples. No apples, no pie.

NICE TO MEET YOU

Yvonne Krause

resiDes

Clatskanie, Oregon

occupation

Behind-the-Wheel Trainer and Dispatcher; Owner, Jo’s Country Market

from Vernonia, Oregon known for Being a bus driver and a “hugger” reaDing Stephen King, usually for fun Spending time with family and in the Nehalem River recommenDs Going to outdoor concerts, walking in the early morning

HC: What’s the attraction of a farmers market?

YK: I think the fact that everything is so fresh. People can taste the difference. And the produce keeps so much longer.

cont page 20

HC: So how fresh is fresh, farm to market? YK: Well, 90 per cent of the stuff I have I can probably tell you the day it was picked. And some of the produce, like vine-ripened melons from Hermiston, they make a big deal about getting those things out to us as soon after picking as possible. A lot of stuff I bring in on Saturdays will be picked the day before. And if it’s that fresh on Saturday, it’s going to last at least a week on your shelf. HC: There seems to be a lot more in the air at a farmers market than just fresh produce? Kind of a county fair feel, too? YK: People are like old friends. This is a perfect gathering place. I probably know half my customers by name. It’s a place to be around other people in a casual, friendly way, I guess. And so many of them come with friends or relatives. It’s an outing. Babies, grandparents, strollers and wheelchairs. HC: You have barely had a minute away from that cash box. YK: Business is good. It’s the season. HC: How many varieties do you have for sale each week? YK: Probably about 50. And there are varieties within varieties. They say there are 2,500 varieties of peaches alone! HC: Wow. How do you keep track of it all? YK: Well, I was nervous when I got started in the business. That I wouldn’t know enough. I used to hide in the cooler a lot. But I also learn a lot from my customers. People love to trade recipes and tips and the best way to eat something fresh. Or a new variety or farm. HC: You have a very specific role within this community. And you’re not a “truck farmer?” YK: I’ve heard that term. But no, I’m a trucker. My

Local families enjoy outings to the market, often featuring live music. Top left: Laurie Kochis, Cowlitz Community Farmers Market manager, is excited about a new Washington State program in which an EBT swipe of $40 is matched with an additional $40 in tokens to spend at the market.

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husband and I own a trucking company, and our place in the market is to try to fill in the gaps when produce might not be available from local growers. HC: So you’re road warriors? YK: Yes, in a way. We keep track of what’s ripening, and what’s available, and then we work our contacts in the community of growers to bring those things home to market. These cantaloupe, for instance, just ripened and were picked in Hermiston and I put them on the truck yesterday. HC: So you supplement where there’s a shortage? YK: Yes, a local shortage. We don’t want to lose the farm-tomarket local farmer and grower connection. Otherwise people could bring in produce from wherever. That’s what chain stores and supermarkets do. We still believe local is fresher and best. And if it’s not available within 20 miles I drive to Yakima or Richland or Boardman to get it. HC: So you’re still “local” in a sense — the asparagus doesn’t come from Peru? YK: Right. And I’m working on behalf of the Market community and our customers to get what we need but still buying as local as we can get. Truck farms were kind of an extension of the old family garden you had at your own house. But you couldn’t raise everything, and the truck farmer at the market filled in the gaps, with fresh produce from out of town.

Yvonne’s is a busy, busy life. Up early to drive halfway across the state to pick up produce from growers. Loading and unloading at the markets, setting up the tents and tables, marking prices and making change. The day we interviewed her she was leaving in an hour to begin cutting hay — on her own land and that of some nearby relatives — to support the 40 head of beef cattle she and her husband raise on their farm. How much hay? I asked. “Oh, probably about a thousand bales,” she replied, matter-of-factly. My back aching just thinking about these two gigs, I asked her about her “day job.”

YK: I work in transportation, at the bus garage, for the Clatskanie School District. HC: : And that’s part time, I assume? YK: No, full time, 40 hours a week. I get July off. I’ve been driving a school bus for about 31 years. And I train drivers to get their CDL (Commercial Driver’s License) in this district, and also for Knappa and Jewell Districts, as well. HC: As if you needed any more to do… YK: No, I love it. I really enjoy working with my fellow employees. Training is a lot of fun, I get a lot of joy out of it. And there’s more than just driving — I teach all the classroom classes for the CDL and also CPR, first aid — everything you need to get behind the wheel and transport the world’s most precious cargo. HC: You strike me as quite a people person for somebody who once hid in the cooler.

YK: That was just me being young, I guess. HC: What about the craftspeople in the market, and the non-food vendors? YK: We have some craft people here — it adds variety to the market, but the board determines who can participate. We don’t have jewelry here, for instance, like they do in Astoria. But we’ve got a gal who does knitting, and I’m sure you’ve seen the woman who makes artisan chocolates.

HC: What are the terms and conditions?

YK: Well, everybody has to be approved. People pay to rent their spaces, and then pay a commission back to the market board to keep the whole thing running and

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HC: Which is a not-for-profit, cooperative thing, I assume? YK: Very much so, The Cowlitz Community Farmers Market. HC: Do you sell in bulk or mostly piece by piece? YK: Both, we get a surprising amount of people who buy produce for canning. HC: I thought that was a lost art? YK: No, I think it’s part of the back-to-the-land, buy and eat local movement. And a way to enjoy all this good food year round. I’ve been canning since high school, and I’ve canned about everything. And I get a lot of advance orders for peaches or green beans by the case. Beets by the bag. Pickling cucumbers. HC: Do you help people who might be experimenting or doing this for the first time?

YK: Oh yes. They remember their grandma’s canning and want to try it. I’ve got a pretty good knowledge of how much goes into a jar, or how many pounds you need to get a certain number of jars. And it kind of died out but now people are picking it up again. HC: Is this more “boutique” canning than surviving-the-winter canning? YK: Oh, yes. People will come in with seven or eight jars. It’s like a craft, something homemade. When I was canning regularly I’d do 200 pounds of tomatoes. I always figured if we had 100 jars of vegetables going into the winter we were in good. I just froze 90 pounds of blueberries. And I’ve still got my grandma’s canning book and all her notes. And that’s fun. She made catsup, spaghetti sauce. I’ve made spaghetti sauce a few times and would not recommend it — it’s a pretty laborious process. HC: I see you in a lot of conversations, not just transactions. YK: Oh, yeah. I tell everybody that works for me, you have to be able to talk to people because a lot of people just come to talk and visit. They want to talk about the apple they’re buying, or it’s just their time to get out, to come out and visit. I have customers that have come here forever. HC: So, I can’t resist asking you the desert island question. If you could only have three things from the market, what would they be? YK: Well, it would have to be Crawford’s strawberries — with some cream of course. Does that count as one or two?

HC: One.

YK: They’re a local grower and they’re to die for. And probably nectarines. I like them better than peaches. I will eat a peach — but only it it’s peeled. I love dried or canned peaches. HC: And your final choice? YK: Probably ... green beans. HC: That’s not very exotic. YK: Well, they’re the entree and the nectarines and berries are the dessert!

Yvonne Krause owns and operates Jo’s Country Market, located at 300 E. Columbia Highway (Highway 30) in Clatskanie, and sells fresh produce every day.

Hal Calbom is editor of The Tidewater Reach, and Dispatches from the Discovery Trail published by CRRPress. Now in his fourth year producing CRR’s People+Place feature series, he has also written Resourceful: Leadership and Communication in a Relationship Age. Hal grew up in Longview, now lives in Seattle, and may be reached at hal@ halcalbom.com.