Mt. Hood Organic Farms

Mt. Hood Organic Farms, a small, 60-acre apple and pear orchard, was the first pear grower in the pear-heavy Hood River Valley to be certified organic, and they recently got their Demeter Biodynamic Certification to highlight the orchard's long-standing emphasis on biodiversity and their reduced dependence on imported soil fertility by treating the farm as a self-contained, self-sustaining entity. The farm is also certified Salmon-Safe by the Pacific Rivers Council, to recognize their efforts to keep waterways clean. They grow on their 60 acres an astounding 45+ varieties of eating apples, 20+ varieties of cider apples, 5 varieties of crabapples, and 9 varieties of pears. Mt. Hood Organics doesn't currently use controlled atmosphere, so their storage season usually only lasts through January, and occasionally into February, but in the future, they're hoping to make the investment in these facilities to extend their storage season by another couple of months.