The Tonnemaker Hill Farm family grows more than 600 varieties of certified organic fruit and vegetables on 126 acres on the north slope of the Frenchman Hills near Royal City along Dodson Road. The farm began transitioning to organic in the 1990’s, said Luke Tonnemaker. The last crops certified organic were cherries in 2008. When the tools became available to certify, and the products were available to keep low pest presence in the fruit and grow crops well, “It seemed like the right thing to do,” said Luke, “All the vegetables had been no spray for the longest time, so we thought, ‘Why not go organic?’” Plus, he said, their customers wanted it.
The Tonnemakers sell around 75% of their produce direct to consumers at farmers markets or fruit stands.
Currently, the farm is dabbling in propagating their own fruit plants. For instance, the strawberries planted this year were grown on the farm instead of shipped from a greenhouse in California because they are no longer available in commercial quantities. Luke said the fruit was, “the biggest we’ve ever seen from this variety. The plants are bigger than they’ve ever been. We dug them up and had them planted in our own field in about 30 minutes… We’re surprised by the result but really excited about that!” They have begun propagating additional untrademarked fruit, including peaches and golden raspberries.
The Tonnemaker Hill Farm store is located at 9098 Dodson Rd S near Royal City, open 8 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday, and until 5 PM on weekends. Produce can be purchased and/or u-picked at the store. Weekly fruit and vegetable boxes are still available on their website at
www.tonnemakerfarm.com.
