Ruddenklau Farms

Ruddenklau Farms Welcome to our farm! We are a family farm located in Oregon's bountiful Willamette Valley.

We got a new dog, Danner. The irrigation crew this morning
06/01/2026

We got a new dog, Danner. The irrigation crew this morning

05/29/2026

This week the OSU Certification Service has been flying the Willamette Valley inspecting grass seed fields.

They are mostly looking for w**ds, and checking for isolation distances. It's amazing what you can see from the air!

If we are too close to another field of the same type of grass, then we have mark that part of the field, and harvest it separately. That seed then cannot be sold as certified. It's quite a pain really, because you end up with a small lot, that still has to have all the tests done for purity, germination etc, which are quite expensive to run.

Welcome to Oregon's Willamette Valley, affectionally known as the Grass Seed Capitol of the World, and currently experie...
05/28/2026

Welcome to Oregon's Willamette Valley, affectionally known as the Grass Seed Capitol of the World, and currently experiencing the start of pollination season. I took this yesterday while driving to a meeting. My apologies for allergy sufferers out there.

We are expecting rain tomorrow, so tonight we planted a pollinator mix in an area that gets too wet for hazelnuts to thr...
05/25/2026

We are expecting rain tomorrow, so tonight we planted a pollinator mix in an area that gets too wet for hazelnuts to thrive. Thank you GS3 Quality Seed Inc. for putting together a mix for us.

We had originally planted hazelnuts here, but when we raise the pond to its maximum level in the spring, the water saturates the soil in this area, and the trees were not thriving.

So now we are excited to see what it might look like planted to a pollinator mix

Beautiful view across the pond at the big gun irrigator putting water on the last patch of the perennial ryegrass field ...
05/24/2026

Beautiful view across the pond at the big gun irrigator putting water on the last patch of the perennial ryegrass field we started irrigating over a week ago.

05/24/2026

I took this a week ago down by the pond. Just a lovely evening.

We put in this pond back in 2007 to provide irrigation water for the farm.

Besides irrigation water for the farm, it also provides wildlife habitat, recreation for us (we have a jetski we use on the pond), and it helps recharge the groundwater. The pond is not lined, so water seeps out of the pond.

05/24/2026

We planted white clover as a covercrop between our trees a year and a half ago. We were a little short on seed, so we threw in some perennial ryegrass to have enough material to meter it through the drill. It provided beautiful cover last year.

Covercrops are good for the soil, as the soil benefits from having something growing in it keeping the microorganisms alive and happy. A clover crop also provides pollinator habitat and potentially some nitrogen for the crop. Research has also shown that a covercrop reduces the temperature in the orchard helping moderate the effects of our hot summers. However, a covercrop also uses moisture that might otherwise be available to the crop and it can make w**d management and harvest more difficult. As with all things, there are pros and cons.

This year we sprayed out the perennial ryegrass as it could start to get too 'ridgy' and get in the way of sweeping the nuts into the center row for harvesting.

The white clover is growing nicely. It needs to get mowed back, so there is not too much bulk. As Bruce was mowing he has been wondering if it would be possible to harvest white clover seed this summer before mowing it all tight to the ground in preparation for nut harvest?

I'm speaking a little slowly in this video because I was focused on the new dog we just got, and hoping he would figure out to get out of the way of the tractor and mower. At his end, Bruce was also watching and ready to react if needed. As it was Danner proved he is smart enough to know to get out of the way of equipment :)

This video was taken May 17th, 2026. I just didn't get it posted till now.

We use a linear irrigator, that moves in a straight line, to cover most of this field. However, we have some odd shaped ...
05/23/2026

We use a linear irrigator, that moves in a straight line, to cover most of this field. However, we have some odd shaped pieces around the outside, and on those we have to use a hard hose irrigator, or big-gun. Here it is covering the narrow strip along the road.

Bruce and I had a look at our fall-planted hard, red spring wheat today. We are pretty happy with how it is coming along...
05/23/2026

Bruce and I had a look at our fall-planted hard, red spring wheat today. We are pretty happy with how it is coming along. There must be some bugs eating on it, because we saw a ladybug larvae and a pupae on the wheat. Ladybug larvae are voracious predators, so we love seeing them in the field, and they can normally handle any pest problem we have.

05/23/2026

Recently, I posted a video of the meadowfoam in full bloom. It looked spectacular.

This was taken exactly two weeks later. Not exactly as pretty any more! The blooms are done and the seeds are starting to set.

We are happy with what we are seeing for seed set. We did not put bees in for pollination, instead relying on native pollinators. We will know better at harvest time, but so far I'm breathing a bit of a sigh of relief. I'll add a picture of a flower with 5 seeds in the comments.

Address

12500 SW Salt Creek Road
Amity, OR
97101

Telephone

+15039320558

Website

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