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Giusto Farms: a family tradition (continued)

Sharing a laugh during a conversation about melon-choosing methods are, from left, frequent customer Moyra Meza, Virginia and Dominic Giusto, and customer Mary Schneider.

“Oh, so these are Hermiston Watermelons,” customer Mary Schneider says, left, in reply to Virginia Giusto’s answer to her question. When you visit Giusto’s produce barn at 3518 N.E. 162nd Ave., it will be Virginia, matriarch of the Giusto family, on duty with husband Augie Giusto, Colleen Puderbaugh and granddaughter Katelyn Meeks. Between them they can answer just about any produce question you could ask them.

MEMO PHOTOS: TIM CURRAN

Giusto added that he and those who work with him on the farm go out of their way to respect the close proximity to homes and living spaces. “We respect them,” he said. “We don’t go out at six o’clock on a Saturday morning with a big tractor, making noise. And at the end of a row, we slow down to reduce the dust. So the neighbors tell me, ‘Don’t change, we don’t want to see anything around here but farmland.’”

He said that attitude has grown since the 1970s, with the severe reduction of farmland in mid-Multnomah County.

“A lot of the land is developed,” he said. “Marine Drive is all cement now. People are tired of it; they want to see some open space. It makes me feel good that they say that.”

In the final analysis, being a farmer has been good to the Giusto family. “We’re just a family farm,” he said, “going back to 1917. It’s a lot of hard work, but you are your own boss, so if you want to go mushroom hunting, deer hunting, elk hunting, you go.” He’s proud of his occupation. “We like to serve the public, to feed the people around here,” he said. “It’s rewarding. We get a lot of people who come out on Sundays to the produce stands,” he said, “but we also have people who come here every two or three days and feed their family. Those are consistent customers. My mom and my sister visit with them, share recipes; it’s really like a big family. It works out good.”

Operating the farm has given Giusto insight into just what it means to work the soil. “The land here in Northeast Portland is good, it’s tremendous,” he said. “That’s why it’s called Sandy Boulevard. Sand came down a thousand years ago from the river, and it makes beautiful ground here. I just hate to see the concrete come in, because it’s good land for raising produce.” He explained that the sandy soil makes the produce “so clean, when we pick produce like turnips and potatoes, the dirt almost falls right off.” He compared that with land in Sauvie Island, north of Portland, where the land “is heavy, all mucky,” which clings to produce.

Giusto spoke for his family and all the people who work on Giusto Farms. “If you get up in the morning and you aren’t happy with what you do in life,” he said, “it’s no good. I enjoy every minute of it. It’s a good occupation, it really is. We enjoy it.”