Seed To Table
Organic Farm Supplies Families and Stores
Laura Coblentz and Bob Larsell, co-owners of the Seed to Table Farm, got involved with enterprise fa-cilitation from a different angle. They lived on the resource they hoped to develop into a business.
Bob grew up on the farm and, at 16, moved to Portland to finish high school and spend some time in the military. A trained welder, he spent almost 40 years in the metropolitan area, eventually returning to help his aging parents with the family‟s 993-acre farm.
Laura, who grew up in the Portland area, joined Bob, and provided the spark that got them thinking about an organic farming business.
“I was recuperating from a bad car accident and I got to thinking about all the land here, the fact that there were no local produce markets (Canyon Gardens in Maupin had closed), and it just hit me – vegetables!” said Laura, a longtime gardening enthusiast.
The family leases 988 of the 993 acres for wheat and alfalfa crops, leaving about 4.5 acres for other crops. “In 2006 we started with a 17‟ X 21‟ raised garden. We were able to feed 5 families for about 2 years just on the vegetables we grew. That really opened our eyes to the possibility of a business,” said Bob. “Our original idea was to provide organic vegetables using no additives, fertilizers, pesticides, or any-thing harmful to South Wasco County through a farm stand and wholesaling. This is not a well-served grocery area. It‟s an economically depressed area and people either had to grow their own or drive 40 miles to The Dalles,” added Bob.
Enter the ever-helpful Mayor Ross again. Laura and Bob were invited to the March 2007 monthly re-source board meeting where they bounced their ideas off both Greg Hohensee and the board.
Impressed with the help they received, they started the planning process shortly after that. “Following that meeting I read Sirolli‟s book and learned that the enterprise facilitation process is a three-legged stool (product, marketing, finance) and we didn‟t have one of the legs – financing,” recalled Bob.
With help from the resource board and Greg, Bob & Laura put together a business plan and obtained the necessary financing.
“I believed there was a local market for organic produce, although Greg didn‟t believe there was enough margin in selling locally. We can sell fresh produce out of our little farm stand and save our customers money and time travelling 40 miles to supermarkets in The Dalles,” added Bob.
“We research the organic prices at Fred Meyer and Safeway in The Dalles and we price comparably and save our local customers the costs associated with a 70 mile round trip,” said Laura.
The pair broke ground May 2008, building a greenhouse and farm stand which officially opened May 2009.
Their five-year plan is to grow the farm to include a 7,000 sq. ft. stock yard, trees, berries, a corn maze, sunflowers, pumpkins, and pony rides. They dream of the farm becoming part an Agri-tourism destination open year-round.
The farm is optimistic that their margins and reve-nues will get better as they work through their five-year plan.
They have considered starting a CSA (Consumer Supported Agriculture) but feel that, for now, they want to stick with their business plan. “With a CSA there‟s never a guarantee that you‟ll get a full box of produce every week – I‟d like to make that guarantee by increasing our wholesale distribution to stores,” said Bob.
Bob and Laura are enthusiastic supporters of the enterprise facilitation process. “Greg was our coach, he gave us a reality check every time we met, asked us probing questions, gave us things to research. We didn‟t always agree with him but he definitely challenged us to excel,” said Laura. “A facilitator is someone who is passionate about helping people, willing to spend the time with cli-ents whether they had a good idea or not, and is able to walk them through the principles of the „three-legged stool‟ (product, financing, and marketing.) That‟s what Greg did for us,” added Bob.