Headwaters Farmers
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2025 Headwaters Farmers
These farmers plant, tend and harvest their crops at our 60-acre Headwaters Farm Incubator, nestled just outside of Gresham, Oregon. The farm has been owned and managed by EMSWCD since 2013.
1855 Plants, LLC
Duane Lane
1855 Plants launched in 2021 at Headwaters Farm as a native plant nursery that sells and installs plants to those interested in reducing their water usage and creating habitat for wildlife and pollinators. As a Yakama Tribal Descendant, Duane uses Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) in his nursery practices and restoration projects.
When he is not farming, you can find Duane working at Northwest Native Chamber assisting small businesses—including beginning farms—as a resource navigator.
Learn more about 1855 Plants:
Cohesive Farm
Randy Long
Cohesive Farm launched at Headwaters in 2025 as a mixed vegetable operation selling through the Portland Farmers Market’s Beginning Farmer Booth, at the Portland State location. Randy began farming as a young adult on his uncle’s 700-acre farm where he led crews and oversaw annual and perennial crop production. After that, he shifted his focus to orchard crops and greenhouse production before working for UC Davis Cooperative Extension.
Nowadays, you can find Randy teaching conservation ecology and plant biology at Lewis and Clark College, conducting GlobalGAP assessments during his summer break, as well as running a small vegetable starts enterprise from home.
Kasama Farm
Leilani Mroczkowski and Jihelah Greenwal
Kasama Farm is a one-acre, no-till, diversified vegetable farm on Clackamas and Wasco land. Kasama Farm specializes in growing Filipinx, Southeast Asian, and East Asian varieties for our community in the Columbia River Gorge and Portland Metro area. Their food is distributed through a CSA and for free with the support of nonprofit partners at the Filipino Bayanihan Center, Ikoi No Kai, Milk Crate Kitchen, and the Oregon Food Bank. They grow their crops using climate and water resilient practices, locally adapted seeds, and host events at the farm to support the education and wellness of BIPOC people. The farm began as a dream in 2020, and the upcoming year will be the fifth full growing season.
Lomita Farm
Gonzalo Garcia Reyes
Lomita farm, which means “little hill” in Spanish, is a mixed vegetable and flower operation that started in 2021 at Headwaters Farm. Gonzalo learned his craft after spending a year in the Zenger Farm Apprenticeship. Now, Lomita farm operates on two acres and provides healthy, fresh produce to scores of families through a CSA program, and stunning bulk flowers at the Portland Flower Market.
Silly Goose Farms
David Moses Oberstein
Silly Goose Farms began at Headwaters in 2025. David is a first-generation farmer who comes with vast experience working on small to mid-scale, established local mixed vegetable farms. Sharing food, especially produce, is at the heart of what motivates Silly Goose.
David had been running an heirloom dry bean farm, La Merenda Farm, with fellow farmer Katie Gourley since 2021. He also brings years of farmers market management and food service experience to his new farm. He is excited to begin his mixed-vegetable farm where he’ll focus on diversified veggies, dry beans, and connecting with ancestral foods from Eastern Europe. Silly Goose Farms will market directly to consumers through CSA and farmers markets.
Sun Moon Fields
Tara Violetta
Sun Moon Fields is a mixed vegetable farm specializing in Mesoamerican crops, operated by Tara Violetta. Tara began farming in 2011 before taking a break a few years later. Their business started back up in 2019 as part of the Raceme Farm Collective, which eventually lost access to its leased farmland. In 2023 Sun Moon Fields joined the Headwaters Farm Incubator Program where they operate a CSA and sell wholesale.
Walking Whale Flower Farm
Aaron Kerr and Madeline Tucker
Walking Whale Flower Farm started at Headwaters in 2024. Their small-scale operation grows a diverse range of annual and perennial flowers—as well as some veggies!—for sale at farmers markets and to florists and designers.
In 2020, Aaron and Madeline began their joint farming journey WWOOFing at various farms on the west coast. Eventually they settled in Oregon where Aaron worked a couple seasons at Our Table Farm Cooperative, starting as a Rogue Farm Corps apprentice, before joining Wild Roots Farm (a Headwaters Farm Business Incubator graduate!). During this time, Madeline got a job at Rogue Farm Corps as their Collaborative Farming Specialist, and also began her own flower farming business growing out of Portland backyard lots. In 2024 they decided to join forces and start Walking Whale Flower Farm!
Headwaters Graduates - Permanent Farm Locations
Headwaters Farm serves as a launchpad for new farm businesses with limited resources by providing affordable access to farmland, equipment, peer networks, and more. These farmers have since moved on to their own thriving operations:
