Steve Neason, Owner
Produce: green beans, basil, beets, carrots, cucumbers, peppers, eggplant, lettuce, turnips, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuce, radicchio, escarole, garlic and more.
Steve Neason, of Cedar Spring Farm of Enumclaw, has been gardening his entire adult life. He was the “IT guy with a garden” during his 32 years at Boeing and since retiring, gardening has become his daily “work”.
Steve’s philosophy on gardening is three-fold:
- If he won’t eat it, he won’t grow it.
- He is focused on flavor.
- He insists on leaving the soil better than when he found it.
He utilizes various sustainable and organic practices to enhance and amend the soil. His garden is chemical free and cared for with a scientific curiosity that experiments with biological ways to grow plants, address pests, weeds and soil quality. You can see from the well-worn work pants and his beautifully planned garden beds that he spends a lot of time ensuring his produce is the best it can be.
With a partial acre on 268th at the location of his farm’s name sake – Cedar Spring – and a hoop house off 228th, Steve has narrowed in on some “to be counted on” specialties for the farmer’s market crowds: lettuce, radicchio, escarole, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic and specialty squashes. After spending time over the years in Asia, Steve also adds in Japanese varieties of vegetables, like the sweet turnip or white eggplant that “taste completely different” than the varieties you can get at local grocery stores. He likes sharing good food with people and helping them learn about different varieties and flavors of other types of vegetables.
When he’s not in his own garden, he can be found helping his neighbors, fellow farmers and gardeners. He doesn’t have a cape, at least not one we can see, but he’s well known and regarded as an important fixture to the growing and farming community on the plateau. We are thrilled to have Cedar Spring Farm as a vendor at the Enumclaw Plateau Farmers’ Market. It’s the only place you will be able to get his vegetables this year, so don’t miss it!
