Marie Shankle organizes greens in a bin during the Toledo Thursday Market.
Cherries sit on display in the Old Achers booth during the Toledo Thursday Market.
Marie Shankle smiles while tending to the Old Achers booth during the Toledo Thursday Market.
Marie Shankle organizes greens in a bin during the Toledo Thursday Market.
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ETHEL — For Old Achers Farm owners Marie and Brett Shankle, getting remarried and starting a farm in Ethel was all meant to be.
The husband and wife duo, both United States Air Force veterans, were previously married to each other years ago while in service. They eventually divorced, separated as friends and remarried. It was difficult maintaining a relationship while they were deployed to different continents for extended periods of time.
Marie ended up as a farmer in Butte, Alaska, part of the state’s banana belt about an hour northeast of Anchorage. She eventually divorced again and reconnected with Brett. The two remarried and relocated near Ethel in 2011. She took a couple years off from farming before realizing she didn’t want to give it up. Her and Brett started Olde Achers Farm together in 2014. Twentyyears later and the two are celebrating their six-year anniversary this summer.
“Apparently it was meant to be,” Marie said.
Marie has now been farming for 30-plus years and has been gardening for as long as she can remember. She discovered her love of growing vegetables during her time in the service.
“Any time you can go play in the dirt and get all grimy and not get in trouble, I mean, you can’t beat that, right?” Shankle said.
Marie is currently the manager of the Centralia Farmers Market and is a chair for the Morton Farmers Market committee. She also belongs to the Farmer Veteran Coalition, a nonprofit organization that assists veterans transitioning to a career in agriculture, and Marie received her Homegrown by Heroes certification last year, which allows her to sell her produce as veteran-owned and produced.
The farm is normally selling flower baskets and flower starts during this time, then switches into veggie starts and the actual vegetables once the season goes on. The Shankles have spent the last three years supplementing her farmers market sales by selling Yakima fruit as a reseller.
Olde Achers Farm sells at three farmers markets in the area: Toledo Thursday Market, Centralia Farmers Market and the Morton Farmers Market. All three are members of the Washington State Farmers Market Association and allow one vendor to resell product, as a supplement to local product, not a replacement.
“That way we’re meeting the customer’s needs but we’re also not shorting out our local producers,” Marie said. “And that’s what it’s all about: keep it local, grow your own, for the most part, and feed people.”
The Shankle’s grow a variety of produce, pretty much A-to-Z, such oriental greens, canning tomatoes, squash, pumpkins and watermelons, among many others. The farm is just over six acres and the Shankles use about an acre and a half or two acres in production, whether that be greenhouse, field or facilities. Last year the Shankles plowed a couple more acres and are slowly getting that into production.
Old Achers Farm is currently selling a mix of Yakima fruit and the Shankle’s homegrown veggies and eggs. The Shankles make a fruit run to Yakima each Wednesday for Thursday, Friday, Saturday markets. Those include bing cherries for $5 a pound; Rainier cherries for $6 a pound; snow peas for $4 a pound; asparagus for $2.50 a pound; snap peas for $5 a pound; lettuce, greens, cilantro; eggs for $5 a dozen and strawberries for $16 a half flat and $30 a flat.
Marie said most of the local farmers have seen a huge increase recently in demand for locally-grown produce, not only for the plant starts but the actual product. It has prompted several farmers in the area to start Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships.
Lewis County farmers markets are also seeing an increase in customers to meet those demands. Far more, Marie said.
“People are so appreciative and so glad we’re there,” Marie said. “They’re loving getting out of the house and having somewhere to go outside where they can communicate and socialize a little bit. Local fresh food is where it’s at.”
The Shankles do not currently offer on-farm sales or a CSA membership. Anyone interested in purchasing produce from Olde Achers farm can do so at either of the three farmers markets it attends, or order online at both the Toledo Thursday Market and Centralia Farmers Market’s respective websites.
Olde Achers Farm can be found at their booths at Toledo Thursday Market from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. each Thursday; the Centralia Farmers Market from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Fridays; and the Morton Farmers Market from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays.
“Buy local,” Marie said. “Our farmers are out here and we’re growing like crazy. All of us. We know we’ve got people to feed. We’re doing our damnedest.”
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Reporter Eric Trent can be reached at etrent@chronline.com. Visit chronline.com/business for more coverage of local businesses.
