Fresh tomatoes available in Salem year-round sounds like an impossibility, but Oregon's Own Tomatoes is set to change that. Oregon's Own is a family-run affair of the Joynt family. Their aim is to have tomatoes in Salem available year-round through the rotating use of an outdoor garden and greenhouse. A venture that's been roughly three years in the making, they're hoping to be able to offer their first winter crop of tomatoes in January.
Kasey Joynt has grown plants his whole life and had the initial idea to "just start growing tomatoes" years ago. In 2014, he started his operation as Tomato Empire, a solo venture. Kasey sold tomatoes online, through word of mouth and at the farmer's market in the summer, he said. In 2019, Kasey and his family moved to their current home, which has a giant yard. His plan was the same: plant more tomatoes and continue Tomato Empire a summer operation. But Dan suggested Kasey add a greenhouse, and everything shifted toward greater expansion of the business.
Expansion also included the forces of his dad and his sisters, Katie Buss and Kelly Joynt, joining his team to create a board of directors, renaming the business to Oregon's Own Tomatoes and building a larger online presence in addition to the greenhouse. Buss manages the marketing and logistics, while Kelly manages accounting and web presence.
As primarily an heirloom tomato operation, the Joynts grew all their tomatoes from seeds and started their first greenhouse row of tomatoes in 2020 "as a test run." As they grew these trial plants, they underestimated exactly what the year would put them through. Through the heatwave and wildfires, the greenhouse reached a stifling 130 degrees, while the water was 117 degrees. The plants survived — even producing fruit. "As we were testing out fans, mixing fertilizers, the (resulting) fruit wasn't that good," Kasey said. "Yet the plants lived despite going through a lot of stress."
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