The Cotton Family Farm

In 1955 Forest (Shorty), his wife Olive Cotton and their children started farming, raising pole beans and cucumbers.

In 1961 the Cotton family moved to Brush Prairie and raised corn, pole beans, and raspberries which provided employment for pickers.

In 1980 the first year of a new crop of raspberries Mt. St.Helens erupted and the berries were declared unsafe to harvest. Since then we have grown strawberries, wheat, grass seed, raspberries and Black Diamond Blackberries. Many youth in the area have worked on our berry harvested during the summer seasons.

For many years we sold our berries under a canopy in Brush Prairie along the roadside and people asked us why we did not start a farmers market with fruit and veggies. Our crops up to 2016 were sold primarily to processors in Oregon and Washington. Then we started our Silver Star Farm Market to sell our crops of produce to the general public which we do to this day. We are open May to the end of October each year.

Jon Cotton and his father Les Cotton operate the farm and the market is managed by Audrey Cotton (Jon’s wife) and Linda Cotton (Les’s wife). We have a u-pick garden at the market that is available for the customers to come and pick their own produce or we will pick for you. Everyone in the family has helped with our market one way another. The grandchildren help during summer breaks and weekends stocking, picking and cashiering at the market.

Our main goal and purpose is to provide healthy alternatives to the public and encourage our customers to create a healthy lifestyle with healthy foods at the core.