Oshala Farm Rebuilding Update #1: Four Days After the Fire

The last few days have been some of the hardest of our lives

Today, we have hopeful news to share.

First, thank you. The love and support we’ve received has carried us through some of the toughest days of our lives. It moved us from mourning into action, and today, that action turned into something we didn’t think was possible this soon.

We Thought We’d Lost the Season- If Not The Farm

When the fire hit, at best we were hoping to have a drying system ready for root season by mid September, and even that was a major maybe. Realistically, we assumed we’d lose all of our herbaceous tops, flowers, and seed crops for the season entirely.

The first sign that wasn’t going to be the whole story came fast.

Some of our core friends showed up with tools and materials to help us build a small cabinet dryer and screens on the spot for small lots and flower harvests. This was critical, since flowers need to be picked every five days, and we were already two days behind because of the fire.

It was a small fix, but it was a huge boost to morale. Between that and days spent running down every tool and supply we could find, we were able to harvest today: Self Heal.

Fitting, don’t you think?

Calendula is next, coming out of the field tomorrow.

The Community Kept Showing Up

We’ve been floored by the outpouring of help in every form.

Our dear friends and farming heroes at Fry Family Farm donated two complete standing cold rooms, which we’ll be taking down and moving to Oshala next week to rebuild there.

In the meantime, Blue Fox Farm has generously offered space in their cold storage for our fresh herbs in the coming weeks, as needed.

Fresh herbs will be heading out to product makers as early as next week, including fresh echinacea flower.

The Biggest News

But here’s the biggest news: we found a way to hit 100% of our harvest schedule, starting as early as next Tuesday or Wednesday.

Several years ago, we owned a second farm 1.7 miles from Oshala, Mahonia, where we built four large herb dryers before selling the property. No one has used them since we did, so they’re essentially brand-new systems, barely broken in.

We met with the current owners today, and they’ve agreed to sell us that drying system and let us use it on-site through the end of the year while we figure out our permanent rebuild this winter.

Four large dryers.

Our full harvest schedule.

Starting next week.

That means we’ll be drying herbs and back on schedule roughly seven days after the fire, before our insurance adjuster even arrives to assess the damage. (They’re not scheduled until next Wednesday.)

A Long Road Ahead

To be clear, this isn’t our infrastructure back.

We’ve still lost an overwhelming amount: our dryer barns, storage barn, equipment, tools, and seed stock we can’t easily replace, some of it not sourceable anywhere else in the world.

There’s still a long road ahead of us.

We’re endlessly grateful for what’s already been raised. Truly, it’s what made today possible. The road to fully rebuilding is a long one that will take more than we ever could have imagined.

We’re not there yet.

But we’re standing.

And that’s because of you.

With no inventory left to sell while we rebuild, the months ahead will be financially tight in ways that are hard to fully put into words.

But this buys us a season.

It means Oshala-grown herbs will be coming out of the dryers and hitting the website in the coming weeks, for herbalists of all kinds, apothecaries, small product makers, and large companies alike who depend on us.

It means Oshala Farm has a real shot at coming through this.

We have 18 crops on the harvest list in the coming week alone, so we’re about to get very, very busy.

Honestly, we can’t wait.

The team’s spirit has shifted in a way we didn’t expect to feel this soon.

Thank You

None of this would have been possible without you. The help you have provided us has allowed us to move without insurance to secure our season, we had no way to do that without this incredible generosity.

Your support didn’t just help us survive. It gave us a path forward we couldn’t have imagined a few days ago.

We also want to thank everyone who has shared our story so widely within your own networks. The response on social media has been something we never could have imagined. It’s brought us to tears more times than we can count, and it’s also hardened our resolve, giving us the energy and strength we need to tackle what lies ahead.

Thank you so much for all the kind words, posts, and well wishes.

We’re so sorry we haven’t had the time to respond to each and every one of you. Please know your words are reaching us, and they’re keeping us energized and our hearts full in a time of so much sorrow.

But today was a good one, and we wanted you to be part of it.

Thank you for believing in us.

With gratitude,

Elise, Jeff, and the Oshala Farm Team