Jossy Farms

History:
Jossy Farms start in Oregon

Jossy Farms started in Oregon when Peter Jossy moved from Grindlewald, Switzerland, to Helvetia, Oregon in 1885. He bought the farm that is now 2 miles north of the Sunset Highway. Peter and his wife Maryanne had 7 sons and 3 daughters.

Son buys the family farm

Fred Jossy, the 5th oldest son bought the grain and dairy farm from his father Peter and operated it until 1953. Fred and his wife Anne had 3 sons. The two oldest sons, Earl and Don, went to college at Oregon State College in Corvallis, Oregon and became agriculture extension agents. Dick, the youngest son, continued to run the original farm. Meanwhile, Don bought a freezer locker storage plant in Astoria, Oregon. In 1956, he opened a freezer plant in Hillsboro, Oregon and moved to a 50 acre farm on Beach Road. One year later, the freezer plant burned down and Don became a full time farmer. In 1968, the 3 sons divided the original Helvetia farm into thirds.

Don and Emma plant the first peach trees

In 1970, unable to find peaches that Don and his wife, Emma, liked, they planted 4 peach trees. The following spring, two of the trees had died. With this success, in 1973, Don planted 150 more peach trees.

U-Pick peach orchard is planted

Don and Emma have 3 daughters and 1 son. In 1976, Don and his son Bob became partners in Jossy Farms. In 1980, the Veteran peach orchard was planted by Bob's house as a U-pick orchard. Three years later, the first U-pick peaches were sold. Prior to that, all the peaches had been picked and packed by the family.

Fifth generation farmers

Bob and his wife April, have 3 daughters that help in the peach sales. The girls are 5th generation Washington County Jossy Farmers.

Orchards are expanded

In 1980, Bob bought Don's share of the original farm and in 1988, he bought Dick's share of the farm. Jossy Farms now consists of 325 acres. Two hundred and twenty-five acres are in hazelnuts, 80 acres are seed crops, 5 acres are walnuts, and 9 acres are fruit trees. There are 3000 peach trees, 250 apple trees and 250 pear trees.