Experimentation and a loyal customer base are a winning combination for specialty grower

Story and photos by Becka Warren, WSU Small Farms Program

Wade Bennett shows farm visitors the bamboo grove.

At Rockridge Orchards and Bamboo Grove, the last frost date is May 15. But that doesn’t stop customers from enjoying the first greenhouse tomatoes of the season just three days into April.

“You have to stay at the front edge,” says Wade Bennett, who farms with his wife Judy on 41 acres near Enumclaw. For the Bennetts, being the leader of the pack has more than one meaning. Not only does the farm have tomatoes ready far earlier than local competitors, it also offers delicious, hard-to-find heirloom varieties.

Rockridge is a portrait of innovation and adaptability as a small farm. The Bennetts focus almost exclusively on direct marketing, with a farmstand–more like a farm store, really–as well as sales to farmers’ markets, grocery stores and restaurants. To stay ahead of the curve, the Bennetts continually identify unique niches where their products can command a higher price because of their scarcity. It may take several years for other growers to get into the market for a certain product, and by then, the Bennetts have moved on to the next hot item.

“If it’s not gourmet and expensive, we don’t grow it,” Wade says in one of his usual, plainly stated maxims. He also advises: “Your greatest strength is your agility to make change.”

Judy Bennett (L) pauses for a moment with agricultural entrepreneurship instructor DeAnna Burnett-Keener of the Small Business Development Center.

That sounds good, but how do these aphorisms translate into concrete farm planning? Wade seems almost casual when explaining how the farm has stayed at the front of trends in the market. When describing the success of a certain product, he’ll say, “So then we just started growing it.” It may seem as though he was simply lucky, but there’s more to it than that. Wade firmly stresses the value of listening to neighbors and customers.

Fifteen years ago, the Bennetts were raising beef cattle and planted a few Asian pear trees because Judy liked the fruit. The trees happened to be in view of the road. Around harvest time, a neighbor who had seen the trees dropped by and asked if she could buy some pears. “I sold her the whole crop,” Wade remembers, also noting that Judy was none too happy. “I got in trouble, so I planted more trees,”he says. The next year, the neighbor brought friends, and the Bennetts were in the pear business.

A display of Rockridge-grown tea in the farm store.

Currently, Rockridge has 3,000 trees of hard-to-find varieties that are requested by Asian families as well as a growing number of people with other ethnic backgrounds. The trust and connections the Bennetts have built have led Rockridge, crop by crop, customer by customer, into the highly diversified farming operation it is today.

For example, the farm’s bamboo forest began when Cambodian workers suggested growing bamboo for stakes used to prop up other crops. A hard cider is in development because grocery store customers asked for it. And when a farmers’ market customer mentioned she couldn’t find a certain radicchio anywhere, the Bennetts began growing it. (Radicchio is a bitter leafy green).Although Wade and Judy have built a successful farm because they are willing to experiment, they say their markets are not risky. Wade stresses that they are not guessing about what to raise, or trying to establish new trends.

Instead, direct marketing allows Rockridge to stay close to the marketplace, Bennett says. The farm relies on experiences with customers for its market research, sales guarantees and new product development. For a small, direct-market farm, prices can change quickly as trends catch on, and soon, products that commanded high prices could be selling for far less.

Rockridge visitors get a feel for fresh bamboo.

That’s why the Bennetts consistently create conditions on their farm that allow them to respond to new opportunities.“I don’t plant anything I can’t turn around and change in two years, and get out of it when everyone else gets in,” Wade says.

The couple has also integrated hydroponic techniques, uses blemished fruit to make pear cider, has learned Japanese in order to procure certain tree varieties, has saved the seeds of unusual vegetables, and more. To help with the demands of the operation, the Bennetts employ six full-time, year-round staff and thirty seasonal workers.

Cucumber plants well on their way to production at Rockridge.

Rockridge’s importance in the community extends beyond economics. Wade is an activist for small farms and shares his knowledge as a mentor to beginning farmers. In addition to serving as an officer of the King-Pierce Farm Bureau, Bennett has served on state and local advisory boards related to water, direct marketing and public health. His involvement allows him to advocate for growers on issues such as on-farm processing and sales, which Bennett says must be allowed if his operation is to remain competitive.

It’s been said that in every great partnership, there is a front-person as well as someone behind-the-scenes, looking after the details. With the Bennetts, this appears to be true. On one day last spring, while Wade led a tour of students in the WSU Small Farms Program’s class on agricultural entrepreneurship, Judy was busy cleaning up the contents of a greenhouse destroyed by a storm. Apparently this is just a day in the life of a successful small-acreage operation, as Judy confirms with a laugh.

Together, the Bennetts have built a small farm with big potential. Their formula is simple but rare as a scrumptious heirloom tomato: Listening to customers, taking well-planned risks, and staying engaged in their community.