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Photo by Andy Atkinson Jim Larrabee, co-founder of the Applegate Agrarians, with his dog Grrrr. The organic farmers group looks to provide quality produce to area residents. Small farms organize for marketing Applegate grows organic co-op By PAUL FATTIG PROVOLT -- Winter may yet grip the Applegate Valley in its icy clutches, but farmer Jim Larrabee is thinking green. Lush green, as in vegetation and greenbacks. "In two weeks time, we'll be putting 3,000 strawberry plants in," Larrabee said. "That's one of our main cash crops. They do real well in the local market." The fresh strawberries Larrabee plans to grow on the 30 acres he and his partner, Dorothy Hartshorn, farm along the Applegate River will be among the crops offered by the Applegate Agrarians, a cooperative for organic farmers that took root early last year. Larrabee and Hart-shorn are founding members. "We're trying to develop the local market for sustainable agriculture," Larrabee said of organic farming. "We believe we have a different product than the people who ship produce up and down Interstate 5. "Ours is fresher," he added. "You can taste the difference." Promoting that difference is what drove the organic farmers to organize after attending a workshop organized by the Ashland-based Rogue Institute for Ecology and Economy early last year. The institute's mission is to stimulate the local economy while not degrading the local ecology. "There are some terrific visionaries in that group," said Karen Carnival, program development and education coordinator for the institute. "As they pick up momentum they'll draw in new folks. They are creating opportunities and, ultimately, more jobs." The agrarian organization, comprising nearly a dozen small farmers from throughout the Applegate River watershed, will share information and equipment with its members. Members also plan to establish a cooperative farm stand in front of the Hartshorn family farm at the 16000 block of Highway 238 in May. But members will also continue selling produce at growers' markets in Medford, Ashland and Grants Pass during the spring and summer. The time is ripe for the cooperative, observed participant Jerry Black, owner of Oregon Exotic Nursery near Williams. "We really need something like this," he said. "There are a lot of small farmers out here. This provides an outlet for them. "We really don't have that now," he added. "What do you do if you have an acre of carrots or tomatoes? You can't take it to Safeway. This will give small farmers a platform." The cooperative could also create a label for the Applegate Valley, he suggested. "This collective could really help build an economy for small, organic diversified farms," he concluded. Larrabee agreed. "What this is about is cooperating with your neighbor," he said. "One of the principles we apply to our agriculture is that the more diverse our crop base, the more likely we are to have a sustained, healthy yield. The same goes for having a diverse group of people like we have in the Applegate Valley. There is a huge richness of resources available here." Larrabee, 54, has a degree in psychology and has worked at a variety of jobs, from carpentry to counseling. But farming has always been his first love, thanks to family roots going back to a farm in Maine. "It was organic in the sense that we didn't have money to buy the commercial fertilizers," he said of his parents' farm. "We used manure and that sort of thing." The interest in organic is growing, said Larrabee, whose compost includes leaves bagged by the city of Medford. "People are finding that doing things green and sustainably is in the long term more economically viable for everyone," he said. "It's just that in the short term we have these fixes called commercial fertilizers and long-distance transportation that we've always depended on." In preparation for spring, Larrabee and Hartshorn have already sown carrot seeds. A half-acre of garlic planted last fall is thriving. Nearby raspberry bushes and a variety of nut trees will also soon bud out with the onset of spring. Yet it is the cooperative seed planted early last year that Larrabee figures may mean the most to the small farmers in the Applegate Valley. "This is a small group right now but I'm excited about it," he said. "There is so much potential. But we have to re-educate ourselves. And that takes time." But organic farmers are accustomed to working for the long haul, he said, noting it takes time to build up the soil organically. "You've got to have a long-term relationship with the land," he stressed. "That doesn't happen overnight." Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA