Sale History

History of the Sale

The Soil Amendment Sale was started in 1987 by George McAdams and Dee Curwen, members of the Organic Gardening Club (now Growing Organic, a chapter of Ten Rivers Food Web).  In early years, volunteers broke open bags of soil amendments and fertilizer and filled the containers of gardeners at the south First Alternative Co-op in Corvallis, often over four consecutive weekends in March.  Carol Cina coordinated the sale for 18 years.  Originally under the umbrella of Oregon Tilth, the sale transitioned to Ten Rivers Food Web in 2014. 

With growing popularity and changing regulations, the sale transitioned over time to pre-order and full-bag only, and beginning in 2014, thanks to Linda Sebring and later Nate Johnson, the pre-order process moved online.  The sale outgrew the co-op parking lot, and the pickup location has moved several times over the last years.  The fairgrounds location, new in 2020, was a big step up from our windblown tents and should allow the sale to continue to grow in the years ahead.  In 2025, for the first time, we are partnering with Central Coast Food Web to add a pickup location in Newport.