Biography

Together with her mother, Betsy, and sister Abby, Zoë Bradbury is part of the Valley Flora trio. Working as a team, they grow over 100 different crops on their family farm along Floras Creek in Oregon. Zoë was born and raised in Floras Creek. Following college and after working for various organic farms and non-profits, Zoë and her two draft horses came home to Floras Creek to expand the farm. In 2008, Valley Flora was born, a three-way farming collective. Abby manages the salad production and is the resident apple and orchard expert. Betsy has carved out her niche in the greenhouse, growing row after row of tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, basil and summer squash. Zoë rounds out the produce line-up with berries, flowers, asparagus, and scores of other outdoor seasonal row crops. Together, the "Florettes" feed over 100 Harvest Basket members through their community supported agriculture program, and help keep the pantry stocked at dozens of local restaurants, retail stores, and foodbanks. Zoë is a regular contributor to Edible Portland and her work has also appeared in USA Today, Oregon Coast Magazine, The Oregonian, the Draft Horse Journal and Stanford Magazine. Before breaking ground on her own land, Zoë spent three years co-managing Sauvie Island Organics, a diversified fresh market farm where she oversaw production and apprentice training for a community-supported agriculture program. Zoë did her undergraduate work at Stanford University where she studied ecological anthropology with a focus on sustainable agriculture. Her honors thesis took her home to Floras Creek and then on to Chile, where she took a hard look at the struggle to sustain family agriculture in both hemispheres. She completed her master's degree with a focus on rural development, food systems and community change.