Potato Grower

6 POTATO GROWER | IDAHO ANNUAL 2018 GROWER OF THE YEAR Autumn is beginning to tinge the boxelder trees along the banks of the Little Wood River with vibrant yellows, oranges and reds. In a matter of days, these trees will cut a blazing ribbon across the sagebrush prairie. From his front porch, a hundred yards from the river, Fred Brossy takes a deep breath of the clean fall air and smiles. "This is our little piece of heaven," he says. And it feels that way, even for a visitor. The farm at Ernie's Organics, as the operation the Brossys own and manage is called, feels nostalgic but not dated, exuding an authentic, everybody's-welcome- here warmth without any of the syrupy, artificial sentimentality of some B-grade Hallmark movie. This place is as real as it gets, and so are the Brossys and everyone else who's been involved in the farm's success over the years. Fred and Judy Brossy and their then-two-year-old son Cooper moved to Shoshone in 1983 to manage the farm for Ernie Bryant, from whom the operation takes its name. The farm sits on 300 irrigated acres straddling the Little Wood a few miles west of Shoshone, Idaho. The soil is fertile, sandy loam, nestled between sagebrush-covered basalt outcrops and the river, with an abundance of natural wildlife habitat bordering relatively small cultivated fields. Initially focusing on grazing cattle, over the ensuing years, the Brossys incorporated Little Piece of Heaven Ernie's Organics in Shoshone, Idaho Story and photos by Tyrell Marchant Fred and Judy Brossy feel fortunate to have lived, worked, and raised a family on the farm in Shoshone.

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