Tonnemaker Family Farm

Frenchman Hills, Washington

Written by Co-op volunteer writer Terri Schmidt

I had the pleasure of learning some history of Tonnemaker Hill Farm from Luke Tonnemaker. Luke’s great grandfather, Orland, was a trained horticulturist, graduating from Washington State College (later to be WSU) in 1921. Orland worked as an extension agent and was involved in the Columbia Basin Irrigation Project - a canal system covering 750,000 acres that still feeds water to Tonnemaker Hill Farm today. Orland retired at 65 in 1962 and purchased land on the Royal Slope of Frenchman’s Hill outside of Royal City, now known as Tonnemaker Hill Farm. Orland’s wife, Pearl, was also very involved in the running of the Tonnemaker farm until she passed away at 100 years old.

Orland and Pearl’s son, Gene, along with his sons, Kole and Kurt, spent many weeks helping out at the Tonnemaker farm during the summers as the boys were growing up. Kole’s first memory of the farm is watching from a hilltop as boulders were blasted to clear the land. Kole went on to earn a degree in Plant Science from U of I and later he and his wife, Sonia, came back to the farm to offer more help to his grandfather. Three weeks after they arrived, Orland passed away from a stroke at 81. His grandsons then took on more substantial roles, with Kole operating the farm and Kurt managing marketing. Kole’s son Luke and his wife Amanda now work the farm alongside his Dad. Luke and Amanda have two children, Lincoln and Roslyn - the fifth generation on the farm. Lincoln, 6 years old, is showing an interest in farming and has already learned how to pick out a good watermelon.

Tonnemaker Hill Farm covers 120 acres. About half of the land is orchards, the remaining acreage is used for growing vegetables and hay. The orchards provide cherries, apples, plums, peaches, pears, apricots, Asian pears, and more. They also grow berries, kiwi berries, and melons. Their vineyard has expanded to three acres. Vegetables grown at the farm include cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, winter and summer squash, ground cherries, asparagus, okra and some unique things - like the spiky orange Kiwano.

Tonnemaker Hill Farm began transitioning fields to organic in 1997, with the last field full certified in 2008 - a change that has been beneficial for the land and their customers. The soils on the farm are well balanced for nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium and have “happy” microbes, a benefit of using organic fertilizer and chicken compost. Inspectors perform annual evaluations and random unannounced spot checks, which Luke said “are good for the organic farm industry.”

The Tonnemakers are popular sellers at Moscow’s Saturday Market. They provide produce to the Moscow Food Co-op, local restaurants like Maialina and Lodgepole, and venues in Spokane and Grant county. A farm stand and CSA boxes are available at their property. A new farm-to-table restaurant recently opened in Royal City and Tonnemaker’s produce is featured in their elaborate six-course meals. Some of the farm’s produce is delivered to Seattle by Luke’s Uncle Kurt who drives to Tonnemaker Hill Farm weekly, picking up produce for city venues. Kurt operates Tonnemaker Valley Farm, 16 acres in Woodinville, Washington, where he grows different kinds of produce and flowers.

Luke said. “Our farm may not be very close to Moscow, but our hearts are.” His Mom and Dad and Luke and Amanda all graduated from the University of Idaho. They began going to Saturday Market 40 years ago. So Moscow has long been a special place for them. And anyone who has visited the Tonnemaker Hill Farm booth at Saturday Market knows they are treasured part of our Moscow community.

To learn more about the Tonnemaker family and their farm products visit their webpage: www.tonnemakerfarm.com