Sun Love Farm is a small, Certified Naturally Grown farm in Oregon City that grows a variety of veggies and herbs, and sells at the Oregon City and Milwaukie Farmers Markets. THE FARM
Sun Love Farm is a small farm in Oregon City, just outside of Portland, OR, that specializes in growing delicious vegetables, and heirloom paste tomatoes that are then made into artisan small batch ketchup and dried
tomatoes. Sun Love’s produce is grown with deep care and respect for the earth. While not organic certified, the produce is grown in a “better than organic” way. No chemical fertilizers or pesticides are used, we grow open-pollinated varietals, annual cover crops are planted to keep the soil thriving, flowers are planted throughout the fields to encourage beneficial insects, and of course, love is given to every plant. YOUR FARMER
For Melissa, farming began as nothing more than a summer job, when she spent a college break working for Red Fire Farm, an organic vegetable farm in Granby, MA. Perhaps it was the delicious flavor of the cherry tomatoes, perhaps it was working under glorious sun filled skies, perhaps it was the knowing that her work was feeding families healthy food, or perhaps it was some combination of it all, but either way, she was hooked and has been farming ever since. Since then, she spent a season working for Riverhill Farm, a small vegetable farm in Nevada City, CA, and then she moved up to Portland. In 2011, she started working for Dancing Roots Farm in Corbett, OR, growing vegetables for a CSA and Portland restaurants. With our moderate year round growing season, it didn’t take long for her to realize that there is no better place to farm than the Pacific NW. In 2012, she made her first jar of ketchup with the bountiful harvest from Dancing Roots. The ketchup was so flavorful, and so beyond the quality of store ketchup that she felt deep in her bones that it was her destiny to share this condiment with others. In 2013, she made more ketchup, and then in 2014 with the support of Shari and Bryan from Dancing Roots, she leased a small bit of acreage from them to grow tomatoes to make even more ketchup, sauce, and dried tomatoes. After 4 years growing good food and deeply caring for a piece of land at Dancing Roots Farm, and experiencing all of the joy and hard work that comes with farming, Melissa and her partner Dave decided to purchase their own bit of land, a 7 acre parcel in Oregon City, rich with pasture, woodlands, and fruit trees. There are possibilities for planting a diverse orchard, keeping goats, chickens, and ducks, growing winter vegetables, medicinal herbs, and cultivating mushrooms. They are incredibly excited to build up a sustainable relationship with this land and grow good food in the process.
