Producer profile

Farmers JoanE McIntyre and Mike Shriver of Rent's Due Ranch in Stanwood, WA. Their organic plant starts and organic produce are favorites among PCC shoppers.

Rent's Due Ranch
Stanwood, Washington

by Alicia Lundquist Guy

(Sound Consumer, June 2003) — On a wet day in late April, I drove up the long, gravel road to Rent's Due Ranch in Stanwood. The rain came down relentlessly, blurring the landscape.

JoanE McIntyre stood near her barn, enveloped in rain gear. Jackson, a slightly soggy shepherd mix, wiggled with puppy enthusiasm to perform his duties as greeter. As with every Western Washington farmer I've spoken to this spring, the conversation invariably started with the weather.

We moved out of the rain into the potting shed and JoanE noted, "This is the wettest year we've ever had. We used to cut our first lettuce May 1, but we haven't even been able to plant it out yet." Her partner, Michael Shriver, worked the ground when he could, but was sometimes foiled by the next downpour. All they could do for their row crops was wait, wait, wait for the sun.

Fortunately, JoanE and Mike were able to keep busy bustling around their seven greenhouses preparing plant starts. "Right now, we're staying alive with plant starts," JoanE said. She spent most of her time in the spring months delivering truckloads of plant starts. I count myself among the many PCC shoppers who can't resist buying the first little bits of spring grown at Rent's Due Ranch. Every time I walk past the rows of pansies and sweet peas, one invariably ends up in the cart. Over the past two years, JoanE and Mike have increased their production of plant starts by about 30 percent and built several new greenhouses.

It was a treat on a soggy day to get a tour of the greenhouses. We walked from the chill outside into a cushion of warmth and the smell of spring emerging. The very first greenhouse at Rent's Due, attached to the barn, had a sense of history about it. It smelled like well-weathered wood and the ceiling was low and cozy. One could almost imagine a hobbit puttering about, trowel in hand. Although Rent's Due is well known by PCC shoppers for its summer produce, there were also a lot of purely aesthetic flowering plants. As JoanE pointed out a new verbena, she looked at it affectionately, evidencing a soft spot for flowers.

Joane McIntyre and Mike Shriver of Rent's Due Ranch, a family farm providing PCC with quality produce.

Farmers do have their favorites. JoanE also enjoys lining the entire driveway with carved jack o' lanterns in October. Rent's Due grows the heaping carnival of organically grown winter squash, including carving pumpkins, found at PCC in the fall. This creates a calendar of nearly year-round farming. In January, they start in the greenhouses and don't wind up the harvest season until Thanksgiving.

Things continue to expand at Rent's Due Ranch. Bit by bit, they've now acquired organic certification for the entire 44-acre parcel of land. Mike Shriver quips, "We've got more of everything!"

A big piece of the Rent's Due produce pie, about 75 percent, ends up in PCC produce departments. (The other 25 percent goes to area farmers' markets.) This means a semi-truck loaded with locally grown, fresh fruit and vegetables from Rent's Due Ranch makes the trip to PCC stores three times a week during the summer. "PCC's got a big appetite!" Mike notes. "Thank goodness!" JoanE adds.

Because of the wet spring weather, PCC shoppers may have a few extra weeks to build up their appetite for locally grown, organic produce. In the meantime, we can revel in a little digging in the garden. Many gardeners may have had their own battles with the wet this spring. They'll be glad for the opportunity in June to catch up with warm-weather-loving plant starts from Rent's Due, such as tomatoes, peppers, squash and eggplant.

Before you know it, produce from Rent's Due will start to stream in and kick off a summer splendor of lettuce, snow peas, strawberries, raspberries, beets, cabbage, broccoli, corn, basil, cauliflower, Walla Walla Sweet and Red Bermuda onions, garlic, green beans and potatoes. Mother Nature has a way of rewarding patience.