Handing off the broadfork! New ownership on the farm

Published on January 26, 2026 in Miscellany. 0 Comments

We are pleased to announce that starting January 1, 2026, Olivia Mancl will transition into owner of Plum Forest Farm LLC. Olivia has been working with us many years and has already been managing much of the farm work. She will now be in charge of all aspects of running the business. The farm is in her capable hands with our whole-hearted support.

Joanne and Rob and family will continue to own and live on the land as they have since 1999. 

Olivia is committed to the highest standards of caring for the life in and above the soil and also to producing the best food, which you will still find in the farmstand. If you have farmstandcredit you can continue using it just as you are used to. She is bringing her own creativity to her role and we are excited to see the ways she will make the farm even better. 

Thank you for the trust you have given us over the past 26 years. Farming on this land in this community has been a labor of love for us. We are grateful that we have had the opportunity to raise our family here while building this farm. We are grateful how this land keeps providing us all with high quality food! It has been a fun and meaningful journey for us to farm here and we will continue to be part of the farm in many ways, including for Rob as a part time seasonal employee. Warmly, Joanne Jewell and Rob Peterson 

We asked our daughter Rose to interview Olivia to tell you a bit more about her. Read on! 

I, Rose (Rob and Joanne’s kid), recently got the chance to grab a coffee with our dear Olivia Mancl, who is taking over the management and business of Plum Forest Farm. I had the privilege of being born on this farm, and of watching it through all the phases, variations and shifts within our “farm family”. This includes the last five years of Olivia being here. She started as an intern, became an employee, then a co-manager, and is now taking this next big step. Some of you have probably met Olivia, or seen her in the farmstand, or hanging around the Vashon community, maybe with her lively one year old daughter, August. If you have met her you are aware of her inviting, capable and kind presence. If you have not met Olivia, I will try my best to tell you a little about her here, since we don’t ALL get to take her to coffee, sadly.

Olivia is a Willamette University graduate, and has been farming since she was 18, starting during her time at college and continuously since then. She has seen many different types of farms, worked for farmer’s markets, spent time on urban and rural farms, and lucky for all of us, found herself at Plum Forest. Most of her experience was at larger farms and she was interested in Vashon Island and in farming at a scale where you never do the same task continuously for hours.

As you shoppers or friends know, my parents have put a lot of thought and energy into nurturing this farm and feeding Vashon’s community for the last 26 years, while maintaining strong principles around quality and health in both the produce and the soil it comes from. The farm is USDA Certified Organic, prioritizing environmentally regenerative processes (REAL Organic) as well as creating an evolving project full of opportunities for learning and growing (literally). Olivia aligns with these principles. As we’ve all seen though, some of us first hand, Plum Forest Farm is so much more than the food grown—it is the family and friends made, it is the working and living together, and it is the lifestyle that has been and will continue to be at the heart of it. Olivia has found home on this island, and we are so grateful she is taking this jump forward with us. She plans to keep the farm thriving, continuing to pursue the ideals my mom and dad strive for, yet bringing her own experience and excitement into this new chapter.

As I said earlier, I have lived through countless variations of this farm. I can confidently say that the last 5 years of having Liv here have been some of the most connected this farm family has ever felt. This transition, the shifting of business and management of Plum Forest Farm, is a huge undertaking and we are completely confident in Liv’s ability to continue producing great food for you while stewarding this land. She is such an important part of this land and family, and we are honored to hand off the farm, and watch her make it her own. Thank you for coffee Liv, and thank you for allowing my parents to take this next step toward retirement. I never thought I’d see the day!! Rose Jewell Peterson

Spanakopita

Published on May 8, 2023 in Recipes. 0 Comments

Spanakopita   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filling:
1 large onion
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
2-4 bags of Spinach, chopped
Salt, pepper
Butter or olive oil

Wash:
2 eggs
1 cup milk (dairy, oat, other)
A dash of salt

Pastry:
1 bundle of approximately 24 sheets of filo dough
2 sticks of butter

Chop the onion and sauté with salt and pepper in olive oil or butter.

In a separate dry pan (we use a wok), cook down the spinach for a few minutes.

Drain the liquid from the spinach, and combine with the onions and the feta, and it is ready.

Paint a film of butter on the bottom of  a 9×13 baking pan. Spread a sheet of filo dough on it and spread butter on the filo. Repeat until you have eight (or about a third of your total) buttered sheets in the pan. Spread half your filling on top of the eighth buttered sheet. Put down eight more with a generous amount of butter on each layer, then add the other half of the filling. Now add the rest of your filo dough, one layer at a time with butter on top of each layer.

Now with a sharp knife, cut the Spanakopita into serving size pieces, or at least score deeply. We like to make the cuts diagonal to the pan in one direction, then the other.

Bake at 375° for 30-35 minutes; it should be starting to be golden brown. At this point remove it from the oven and pour the egg/milk mixture on top, focusing on the slits you cut, and spreading evenly. It is ok if it is a bit pooled on top. Put it back in the oven for 10 more minutes and remove it when it is fully golden. Let cool a bit and try not to eat it all in one sitting.

Kabocha Squash Soup

Published on October 20, 2018 in Recipes. 0 Comments

by 2018 intern Brian Landers

Ingredients

Kabocha squash     4 lb
Onion     1 lb
Parsnip     ½ lb
Garlic     2 cloves
Carrot     ½ lb
Pickled jalapeños     2 ea
Apple cider     2 cups
Stock or water     1 gal
Bread     ¼ loaf
Oil
Salt and pepper

 

Method

1. Break the stem off the squash and discard. Cut the squash in half, scoop the seeds out, and then season the cut side with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in 400° oven and check after 45 minutes.
2. While the squash is roasting, peel and chop the parsnip, onion, carrot, and garlic then toss them in oil, salt and pepper. Deseed and chop the jalapeños.
3. When the squash is finished, its flesh will be tender and the skin will be easy to pull off with a fork. Pull it out and roast the other vegetables at 500° until caramelized.
4. After the veggies in the oven are done, add them to a large pot with the jalapeños (with some of their pickling liquid) and the apple cider. Bring to a rolling boil and reduce the liquid by half. Add the squash and stock and bring to a boil again.
5. Blend with a food processor or food mill. Make croutons and serve on top of hot soup. Other garnishes could be tortillas, sour cream, hot sauce, yogurt, or fresh herbs.