Wild Roots Farm, LLC
Farmer
About
Wild Roots is a small, ecologically-oriented market farm, owned and operated by farmers Mary Colombo and Brian Shipman, growing over 200+ varieties of high-quality vegetables and herbs for our community in the Portland area. When it comes down to it, we got into farming because we love food.
Programs and Partners
Production Practices
We are committed to growing diverse and unique crops following organic practices (but are not certified), aiming for the most flavorful and nutrient-dense end-product. We prioritize environmental health by using minimal tillage methods to foster living soils, creating thriving habitats for pollinator communities, and strive to strike a balance between human-scale, hand work and some mechanization. We believe in farming in thoughtful, authentic, ecologically-oriented ways by tapping into the intuitive relationships we have formed with land, place, and climate through farming. We are committed to humbly doing our best in a compromised system, knowing that no agricultural system is perfect and that we will always have more to learn. We are excited about experimenting more with dry farming and collectivized farming models because our future requires that we figure out how to grow food in both changing social and ecological climates.
Location
Troutdale, OR
Manager
Brian and Mary started farming way back in 2009 when the financial crisis forced us the re-exam our life and career. We immediately fell in love with the lifestyle and community that surrounded farming. Our main motivation of getting into farming was spending more time outdoors and having access to delicious food. In the past couple of years, our motivations have shifted and our hope is to be part of the food system change within our community and to make land accessible to new and beginning farmers. In our spare time, we love to cook, read, run, fish, snowboard, be in nature, and watch crap TV.
Our team consists of Jami Epstein, David Oberstein, and Talia Auskelis. They are all coming into their second or third year with us at the farm. You can read more about them on our website, but we are so thankful to have this amazing group of humans on our farm!
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