Meet the Team!
It takes a team to make something as nuanced as Rainshadow Organics function like the smooth operating machine it is! This month, let’s meet the team!
Sarahlee, Farmer/Owner
Where are you from? I’ve lived on the farm my entire life.
Nat (Natalie), Farm Manager
Where are you from? I’m originally from Sweet Home Alabama, home of the white barbecue sauce and the all holy Crimson Tide. After living in Colorado and then Kentucky, I found my way to Oregon four years ago.
Why Rainshadow? Rainshadow is in my bones. I live and eat and bleed and sweat and laugh and cry and love on this land. Here, I have the freedom to create, imagine, fail, and succeed. I am empowered and I am humbled. At Rainshadow, I am home.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? Oh boy! Hmmm. I’d really love to hone in some skills in the culinary delight department this year. Pot luck anyone?
Where do you find your inspiration? One of the best parts of this place is bringing in people new to farming who carry an immense amount of stoke with them. Our Apprentices this year are doing just that, and the inspiration is high! Seeing this place from the view of fresh eyes, oolala.
Noah, Livestock Manager & Lead Miller
Where are you from? I am from Coos Bay, OR
Why Rainshadow? Rainshadow provides endless opportunities to expand my skillsets and passions.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I am really trying to learn how to use systems (even create them) to avoid repetitive work and use that energy to focus on important projects.
Where do you find your inspiration? I am often faced with challenges that I have never dealt with before, and I use these moments to look within myself and find solutions that I can utilize again when they reappear.
Cami, Propagation, Greenhouse, and Garden Manager
Where are you from? I am originally from Chile, where I want to have my own farm someday, and inspire people to do the same.
Why Rainshadow? If you want to be a farmer, Rainshadow will make sure to show you exactly what that means. Hard work, delicious food, and a dreamy lifestyle. After you experience it, there’s no way back.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? This will be my second year farming and I’ll be mostly working in greenhouses and the 2 acre.
Where do you find your inspiration? My interests at the moment are grains and plant teas, but what inspires me the most is thinking about new recipes with what the season has to offer, and I can’t wait to see how that changes over the season.
Grant, Apprentice
Where are you from? Wyomissing, PA
Why Rainshadow? Rainshadow’s apprenticeship program is a unique opportunity to dive deep into the world of farming while also learning how to grow food in a sustainable way.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I’d love to learn what it will take to start my own farm one day and how to cook / prepare food that we grow on the land.
Where do you find your inspiration? I find my inspiration from my desire to live a self sustainable life with a tight knit community.
Amanda, Apprentice
Where are you from? I’m from Bend.
Why Rainshadow? Central OR is a fantastic place to live, though to farm successfully here year-round, you need to tune your techniques to the high desert climate. That’s why I chose to learn at Rainshadow.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I want to learn from their experiences farming here, their successes as well as their failures. Rhetoric from farming books only gets you half-way. Knowing what works and what doesn’t in our unique climate is incredibly valuable.
Where do you find your inspiration? I am inspired by the meals we get to cook here and how much better the meat and veggies taste than their store-bought siblings. I am excited to see what flavors this season’s harvests will bring as the summer unfolds.
Laura, Apprentice
Where are you from? I grew up in the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania, where I was surrounded by small dairy farms and endless miles of corn fields.
Why Rainshadow? As an East Coaster I’d always been drawn to the West Coast but little did I know that I would find a home amongst the Junipers and Mountains, and most importantly within the soil. Rainshadow truly feels like home to me, every single detail is considered from the health of the soil, the happiness of the animals, to the delicious vegetables that are being provided to the community.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I chose Rainshadow to learn the ins and outs of organic farming because their practices are true to what they preach.
Where do you find your inspiration? I find my inspiration in knowing that I will forever be a student to what the plant kingdom can teach us. Tomato pruning has taught me patience, while planting onions has taught me efficiency. I enjoying learning from our 2-ace the most, seeing what grows best within our climate, what can go to seed and come back next spring, along with what plants are not happy here. Every day there is something new to learn and I feel blessed for what this farm is continue to teach me.
Angela, Apprentice
Where are you from? Born and raised in Portland, Oregon. Moved to Bend last summer and just this January settled in Sisters.
Why Rainshadow? I chose to join the Rainshadow team out of a love for sustainable farming and reverence for local foods. I’ve farmed for the last 4 years on homestead permaculture farms and had a particular desire to experience farming on a larger scale with the full diet aspect in full
force.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I hope to gain a better understanding of how to officially set up a small scale farm that the public can tap into for education. I also am excited to learn about the growing, harvesting, and storing of beans and grains.
Where do you find your inspiration? My inspiration comes from so many things… future generations, my family, beautiful food, music, sustainable living, watching others genuinely living their virtue.
Tristan, Apprentice
Where are you from? I am from Japan and California but I grew up in Bali Indonesia.
Why Rainshadow? I decided to come to Rainshadow because I really like how we get to work with the food we grow. I really enjoy that we are cooking the food we are growing.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I hope to learn how to be creative with the food that is in season and to cook really tasty meals.
Where do you find your inspiration? I find a lot of my inspiration weeding in the two acre and in the fridge.
Poncho, Animal Crew
Where are you from? Soy de Guatemala.
Why Rainshadow? Porgue mi padre trabajó aqui y es un lugar agradable con personas muy increíbles.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? Aprender todo sobre el cuidado de las plantas, lo que conlleva sembrar, esperar, mantener y ver crecer.
Where do you find your inspiration? Me inspiró en el olor húmedo de la tierra y an el cántico de los animales es cómo música para mis oíds.
Melody, Farm Store and CSA Guide
Where are you from? This area has been my home for a big chunk of my life.
Why Rainshadow? Rainshadow is a welcoming environment. I enjoy the interactions and relationships with the farm crew and customers.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? There is always a new vegetable or herb to learn and ways to prepare and serve them.
Alison, Farm Store/CSA Manager and Farm Liaison
Where are you from? I grew up in Sacramento, CA, spent a lot of time in the intermountain West, but have been at Rainshadow for the past 3 years and don’t want to leave. Ever.
Why Rainshadow? Because the power of friendship, family, and food is something you cannot avoid. It drew me in and keeps me here.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? This year I am continuing to try to learn how to simplify the CSA systems here and how to make the computer work for me. I also am always trying to really learn how to explain farming systems to everyone else (you know, all of you).
Where do you find your inspiration? I find my inspiration in our CSA members. I love learning about you, your passions, and how to take our food to the next level. The view of Smith Rocks for the Farm Store deck and listening to the frogs croak in the ponds also ground me in this beautiful place.
Mel, Events Coordinator
Where are you from? I am originally from Carmel, California on the Central Coast of California.
Why Rainshadow? Rainshadow has been my home, my passion and my family since 2015. And I’m stoked to be here to see another season come to fruition.
What do you hope to learn at the farm this season? I’d love to learn and practice cooking with organ meat. Particularly heart and tongue, but liver is on my list too.
Where do you find your inspiration?
I am grateful to be part of this team which is bringing food from our fields, through our commercial kitchen and to the plates of our community members.
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Interested in a year round CSA?
We will be starting to take sign-ups for our Full Diet CSA in mid-June. Click on the button below and learn more about this very unique, very special CSA. (Hint, hint: in includes milk, eggs, meat, grains, vegetables and honey!)
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Photo Credit: Danielle Caruso
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