Look who's farming now

Zoë Bradbury, owner of the Valley Flora Farm on Floras Creek near Langlois, Ore., grew up on a sheep ranch and focused on sustainable agriculture during her college years at Stanford University.

For her master's degree from Antioch University, she traveled to Chile, where she observed agricultural innovation in the face of hardship. The adaptability struck her as a philosophy she could bring home to Oregon, where the farmers' reactions to the demanding industry seemed more fatalistic than that of their South American counterparts.

After returning to her hometown and spending a few years planning and saving money, Zoe, 29, opened Valley Flora Farm on her old family sheep land. Valley Flora grows more than 75 crops on 8 acres. The farm sold out of CSA shares three weeks after it launched the program in January. There is now a 70-person waiting list. The farm is a true family business: Zoë runs it with her sister, Abby, and their mother, Betsy.

--C.F.

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