Just east of Troy, ID, there are 29 acres full of Christmas trees, pumpkins, and endless types of produce. Spring Valley Tree Farm is just the kind of place that’s easy to fall in love with, which is exactly how Annette and Paul Brusven like it. “Farming is in the Brusven blood,” Annette says. Both she and Paul come from a lineage of agriculture, with a shared dream of running their own farm. In 2004, that dream became a reality when they purchased their property. In 2005, they planted their first trees, and in 2012 they made that first sale.
Spring Valley isn’t just a tree farm anymore though. Alongside 1,000+ trees a year, they now also manage a large market garden, an orchard, and a pumpkin patch. After the first few years as a fully operational tree farm, Annette said they realized, “We have so much fun when people would come visit us in December, we just couldn’t wait a whole year for them to come back!” This mindset paved the way to expansion.
Today, one of the best fall festivals in our region happens on their farm. They call it a pumpkin hunt. Traditionally, pumpkin patches are a common fall activity for all ages to enjoy, but they thought, how can we take this one step further? They grow the pumpkins and then hide them among their 10 acres of Christmas trees! You can go hunt for your pumpkin, and afterwards, enjoy other activities such as a train, a hay bale maze, face painting, and more.
Farming this much land isn’t a small task, and The Brusven’s have faced their fair share of setbacks. They shared how one year, a drought wiped out 90% of their harvest. This was a hard lesson, but they’ve since developed an irrigation system across the entire farm. They also shared that deer are a consistent problem, eating certain tree varieties like candy. They didn’t talk about these struggles with frustration, but with curiosity. “we’re still learning a ton,” said Paul. “It gets boring without challenges” This kind of passion has been passed down through generations. When talking about how they use no pesticides or shortcuts, Annette said for the longest time, they didn’t realize it was a luxury to have this kind of organic food, it was just how they did things. The care they put into their food and farm is a value they hope to share with everyone who visits.
For Paul and Annette, it’s all about community. They regularly attend the farmers market. “Fifty percent of the reason we do farmers markets is to meet the people and community,” she says. That community first approach is woven through their entire business, hosting educational opportunities for kids through field trips and currently, spotlighting a pumpkin field trip, which includes learning about types of pumpkins and enjoying classic fall traditions. They love sharing what they do and showing people where good food comes from. They sell a majority of their products through the Moscow Co-op, a partnership that has been extremely beneficial in smoothing out one of the biggest struggles for small farms: consistent demand. Their products also show up in stores throughout Kendrick and Troy, their own gift shop that actually features work from 50-60 local vendors, and now, happydaylocal.com.
Spring Valley Family Tree Farm is a full agritourism destination. In other words, it’s a place built for choosing and cutting your own Christmas tree, wandering the pumpkin patch, shopping the market garden, and bringing the kids for a hands-on look at where food really comes from. Event details and seasonal updates are posted on the farm’s Instagram, Facebook, and more information on the gift shop, trees, events, and educational opportunities can be found on their website. As Annette and Paul put it, local food “can and will bring people together”, and after one visit to Spring Valley, it’s easy to see why people keep coming back.
