Nearly 100 years of Walla Walla Sweet Onions grown right here on this family farm!
Castoldi Family Farms is a 4th generation family farm where every onion is handled by their small team from start to finish just a few miles from Andy’s. Every year they plant hundreds of onions to supply our region with a beloved crop – genuine Walla Walla Sweet Onions! Known for their sweet taste, these onions are available for only a few months each year!
How do all these incredible onions make it from the field to our store? They first have to be hand harvested in the summer sun – it can take 3 to 5 days for 5 people to harvest an acre of these onions! After harvest the onions are cured in the summer sun, sorted, and bagged – all by hand!
The Castoldi Family Farm roots run deep in our valley – as one of the first Walla Walla Sweet Onion growers, using a special strain of onion brought over from Corsica in the late 1800’s, they helped create the boundary that determines a genuine and authentic Walla Walla Sweet Onion. If these onions aren’t grown within this boundary, then they are not considered authentic – there really is something special in the soil of our Valley!
Over the past few decades, farming the land on a small, local scale has become increasingly challenging. While there used to be over 1,500 acres of land and over 40 farmers planting these specialty onions we all love, now there are less than 600 acres being used to cultivate this crop with less than 12 farmers. This is why, here at Andy’s, we do all we can to partner with our local farmers – we believe you should know your farmer and have access to fresh and locally grown food like genuine Walla Walla Sweet Onions every year.
The Castoldi’s have been farming Walla Walla Sweet Onions since the 1900’s and will mark their 100th growing year next season – 4 generations deep, this family has no intention of letting their legacy of growing delicious onions pass by.
Available until August, stop by and pick up a bag or two of these delicious onions! Take the advice of the farmer’s that grew them and enjoy them fresh like an apple, sliced and on a turkey sandwich or burger, or sauteed and enjoyed with your favorite meal!
A seasonal treat, we just love Walla Walla Sweet Onion season!
The Castoldi family also grows Candy Winter Sweet Onions – available as the Walla Walla Sweet Onion season ends in August, you can enjoy these onions fresh from the field until October. Perfect for storing, these onions are here to get you through the winter!
Your destination for local food, we love to partner with our Valley’s farmers to bring best in season products to our incredible Walla Walla Valley community.
- Andy’s Market
