Hosta

English: When Scott Thompson bought Blackberry Bog Farm, it was densely covered in blackberry bushes. As Thompson worked to revitalize the farm, he beat back the blackberry bushes and uncovered the oasis homesteaders found in the 1880s.

Today Blackberry Bog Farm grows over 648 different plant species which are sold at the farm stand on site, in local farmers markets and through CSAs. Thompson and his staff of about 15 locals tend to berry bushes, grape vines, and fruit trees, along with the variety of vegetables. Thompson still raises cows, chickens, and other poultry along with his extensive harvest. One of his goals is to diversify production on the farm's 29 acres as much as possible, as that will allow him to continue to sell locally to the approximately 47,000 residents of Clatsop County.

His work with NRCS Oregon started in 2017 with a seasonal high tunnel project. Funded through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), seasonal high tunnels extend the growing season throughout the year, allowing producers to grow in a more stable environment through seasonal changes and variations. The high tunnel allowed Thompson to grow plants like habaneros, serranoes, and the squash that create the loofahs you see in your bathtub, amongst others. Thompson built a second high tunnel with NRCS in YEAR, in which he currently grows zucchini, melons, turmeric, and sweet potatoes that please not only customers, but also the cows that enjoy eating the vines.

Bruce Moffatt is NRCS Oregon’s District Conservationist in Clatsop County, assisting Thompson with his natural resource needs. Thompson’s most recent project with NRCS Oregon was installing over 1,000 feet of pollinator plantings along Bear Creek with EQIP funding. Across from the plant stand where Thompson and team sold drive-thru Mother’s Day bouquets during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, pollinators are drawn to this patch of a variety of native plants including yarrow, Puget gumweed, and Douglas aster.

Bear Creek, the city of Astoria’s water source, weaves through the property and provides habitat to wildlife and critters. “If you wait here long enough, you’ll see a salmon swim up from the Pacific to spawn,” says Thompson. “The other day I saw an otter pull a big salmon from the creek and eat it along the banks of the shore.”

Pollinators and salmon aren’t the only visitors to Blackberry Bog Farm, however. The farm is the site of the first agro-tourism in the area as visitors enjoy farm to table dinners with a chef cooking in the plant yard, the onsite bakery, the nursery, build your own hanging basket events, and more. Visitors no longer visit the farm via boat on the river but take the gravel road off Hwy 30 near Astoria past the sign that reads, “Drive like your calf lives here.” There you’ll likely see Thompson walking, between the nursery and the pollinator plantings, busy as a bee.