IMBLER — For those driving through downtown Imbler, the last thing they might expect to see is a walrus. But one needs to look no farther than the corner of Ruckman Avenue and Main Street to spot this marine mammal — on a sign welcoming passers-by into the new Happy Walrus Farm Stand.

Kagan Koehn, alongside her partner, Dylan Howell, and her parents, Susan and Toby Koehn, opened the new farmstand on Saturday, Aug. 20, to increase access to fresh produce for rural communities in Union County.

“Ideally, if everybody could shop at a farm stand that was a couple of miles from their house, I think that would be like the perfect world,” she said.

According to a United States Department of Agriculture report released in August, prices for fruits and vegetables are now predicted to increase between 7% and 8% from 2021 to 2022. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reported in May that the 9.4% rise in food prices this year is the largest annual increase in 41 years.

Koehn asserted that rising food expenses are closely connected to rising costs in the commercially grown produce industry. And with rising fertilizer and gas prices, commercially grown produce is becoming more expensive to grow and transport.

“If we can cut out the middlemen of transporting food and the amount of time it’s in trucks and, and all of that, your food is fresher,” she said.

As compared to the hundreds of miles produce often travels to make it on supermarket shelves, fresh food that makes its way to the Happy Walrus Farm Stand is grown just over 6 miles away — not more than a 10-minute drive. Koehn, Howell, Toby and Susan began their localized gardening endeavors around two years ago, around when the pandemic hit.

“Maybe it would be nice to get back to growing food for people and ourselves,” Koehn said of the group’s initial interest in the idea.

Koehn’s grandparents had owned land off of Happy Walrus Road in Summerville since the seventies — and used to run a small herd of cattle on their property — but had never utilized their acreage for market gardening. With the go-ahead from them, Koehn, her parents and her partner began growing their own market garden on the property in 2020.

They began growing all manner of produce, including squash, zucchini, cabbage, chard, potatoes, onions, broccolini, green beans, tomatoes, eggplant and more. The group has also begun experimenting with herbs like basil and italian parsley, and is even foraging on their property, for stinging nettle and mushrooms.

Under their official moniker of Happy Walrus Farms, the group began selling produce in La Grande at the Saturday Market. It was Koehn’s father Toby who broached the idea for a farm stand in Imbler. According to Koehn, he wanted to provide a beacon for the community, and a space to get fresh food without having to drive into La Grande.

Koehn said she and her mother Susan collaborated to decide the color of the stand’s eye-catching olive green facade — complete with a terracotta roof, citrine trim and bright white doors.

“As we moved and lived in different houses when I was a kid, my mom liked all colors,” Koehn said of her mother’s creative paint preferences. “She’d paint every room a different color.”

One of the farm stand’s unique features is its “self-serve” purchasing system. The stand is not staffed, so when visitors arrive, they choose what they want to take home, log it and pay for it with cash, a check or through the Venmo app. Although they can’t always be there, Koehn noted that she, Howell and her parents will check on the stand and restock wherever they can.

“The four of us are quite busy, so it would be a little bit challenging to keep the stand staffed at all times,” Koehn noted. “It’s just a little bit more sustainable for our business.”

The farm stand was also recently certified to accept Oregon Farm Direct Nutrition Program checks — $4 vouchers that Oregon WIC program participants can spend on fresh, locally-grown fruits, vegetables and cut edible herbs. Koehn noted that

“We trust the community to treat us with respect and we hope to treat the community with respect as well.”

The farm stand’s next-door neighbor, Jerry Weissert at Valley Fabrication & Machine helps keep the bright green shed cool — and provides the electricity for the produce fridge.

Stacey Merrigan, owner of Merrigan’s Fresh Cut Flowers, also sells her locally grown blooms in the farm stand. She first met Toby Koehn at an Imbler city council meeting, where the two discussed the farm stand — and the possibility of Merrigan pitching in. She said it’s been a great way to offer her flowers in a more permanent way.

“That gives me a way to showcase the flowers at the specific location in Imbler,” she said.

Merrigan aims to check on her flower corner of the farm stand approximately twice a week, putting in fresh bouquets as needed. She also wants to hold monthly in-person events at the farm stand for her flower business.

“I think it’s a great offering for Imbler,” Merrigan said. “I think they have great plans to grow that site in the future so it’s a great starting point.”

Koehn noted that they will continue adding to the space’s welcoming facade and hope to build a courtyard next spring where patrons can sit and enjoy a cup of coffee. Koehn emphasized that — more important than the business prospects of the space — she, Howell, Susan and Toby want the farm stand to make buying local produce easier for those in Union County.

“The goal for us, for growing food, is not to make a million dollars,” Koehn said. “It’s to make sure folks have local food to eat.”