The Organic Fruit Whisperer

When George Brereton retired from a distinguished career as a ship’s captain in Alaska, he knew he would need to find a new way to keep himself busy.

Brereton grew up on a 40-acre farm in the 1950s and 60s in California’s Sacramento Valley. Back then, he couldn’t wait to get off the farm, he said. But after his ship visited the Portland area, he set his sights on building a postretirement life running an organic farm in the Pacific Northwest. In 2007, Gifts of the Planet Farm was born.

"I’m the type of guy that can’t sit still," he says with a smile, as he gives the Washington Grown TV crew and host Kristi Gorenson a tour around the 2-acre farm. "So I retired, and I wanted something to do, so I started a farm."

The venture has required a lot of work, but that hasn’t dissuaded Brereton from pursuing his passion.

"There wasn’t a blueberry on this place when we bought it. My wife and I planted all these, and we put a little blessing on each one when we did," he says as the crew walks through a row of blueberry bushes loaded with fruit. "Now, they’re pretty happy. These are very productive plants; I’m right at the top of the charts, averaging 10 pounds of yield per plant. We took 800 pounds of blueberries off here last week and another 120 pounds today."

George and his crew harvest more than 2,000 pounds of blueberries each season, and the little blue blobs are the most popular crop they grow. Though the adjective "little" doesn’t necessarily apply to all of George’s blueberries.

"We have a variety called Chandlers, which is the largest blueberry variety. We’ve gotten them over an inch at times," he says, before spinning away toward another corner of the farm as a new thought occurs. "Have I shown you the Mama Tree yet? Last year, that one apple tree, we call it Mama Tree, produced over 2,000 pounds of apples. One tree."

As the crew follows him over to witness the behemoth tree, the rest of the farm’s bounty is on display. In addition to blueberries and apples, the farm grows pears, cherries, asian pears, hazelnuts, walnuts, chili peppers, melons, tomatoes, sweet peppers, and more. Gifts of the Planet is certified organic, and all their produce is grown in accordance with organic principles. Though George is an outspoken proponent of organic farming, he admits it’s not as simple as many people assume.

"People have this idea that organic means ‘no-spray.’ Sorry, it doesn’t. It just means you don’t spray with non-organic compounds," he says, with a professorial air. "One of the main (certified organic sprays) is spinosad. It’s a bacteria that worms eat, and it doesn’t agree with their digestive tract and kills them off. If you’re getting your blackberries in the wild, or your blueberries from a place that says they don’t spray, you won't taste the worms, but they’re in there."

As Gorenson makes a face at the blueberry she’s holding, George leans in with a wry smile. "Don’t worry, we keep them out of ours."