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| In this photo taken in the summer of 1980, both youngsters and adults work transplanting cabbage at the Rossi-Giusto Farm on the east side of Northeast 122nd Avenue and Shaver Street in the Parkrose area of what is now Northeast Portland. Driving is Aldo Rossi; sitting from left to right are Agostino “Augie” Giusto, Nick Rossi, Joe Rossi and longtime farmhand Vic Peterson; standing are Dominic Giusto and his sister Kimberly Giusto (now Kimberly Meeks). During the summer, mornings would be spent harvesting and afternoons planting cauliflower, broccoli and cabbage for fall harvest. Pictured is a New Holland two-row transplanter; Dominic Giusto and his sister Kimberly would follow behind and plant by hand the unplanted or missing spaces. Aldo’s wife, Irene Rossi, took the photo. |
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| Taken in the spring of 1996 at the Giusto Farms property on Northeast 148th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, Augie Giusto is driving a 1956 Model D-2 Caterpillar. The story goes that the farm’s John Deere plow- tractor’s clutch was disabled, and a field of potatoes needed to be planted. A resourceful Augie used the Caterpillar and the old Oliver two-bottom pull-type tractor-plow to plant that day, as was done on the farm years before. |
| COURTESY PORTLAND’S GARDENERS AND RANCHERS ASSOCIATION |
Augie took care of the trucks and tractors not only on the Rossi-Giusto Farm, but continues to do so to this day with his son Dominic on Giusto Farms. Augie said there were several trucks he maintained at the Rossi-Giusto Farm, mostly Chevrolet, Dodge and International. In addition, the Rossi-Giusto Farm maintained a fleet of around a dozen tractors, with manufacturing names such as Caterpillar, International and John Deere. Augie took loving care of the trucks and tractors, from changing the oil to tuning the engines. He became a virtual expert at fixing and replacing engine starters and generators.
“If something broke down,” he said, “I tried to fix it.” Augie also helped control corrosion by painting the trucks and tractors. “When it got old,” he said, “I painted it. You have to keep those machines in shape. If you let something go too far, you’ve got problems.” It has to be emphasized that the job of repairing and maintaining the trucks and tractors was not his full-time job. “I did that on the side,” he said, “during the weekend and nighttime. I was also working more than full-time farming.”
“You try to save money by doing the work yourself,” he said. “If I could do it myself, I did.”
Augie also built two vegetable cold storage units at the Rossi-Giusto Farm, one in the 1960s and another in the 1970s. In addition, he built another cold storage unit for Giusto Farms in the 1980s.
Augie also custom-built wooden truck beds, “We’d buy the truck chassis,” he said, “and then I built the bed.”
In 1989, with Augie and Aldo’s sons old enough to become partners, Augie ended his partnership with Aldo in order to start a family farm with his son Dominic.
| Giusto Farms offers local flavor Giusto Farms’ produce stand is located one block south of Sandy Boulevard on Northeast 162nd Avenue, at 3518 N.E. 162nd Ave. Hours for the produce stand are Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Beginning in November, the hours change to 10 a.m.-5 p.m. What’s offered for sale at the Giusto Farms’ produce stand depends on the time of year and what’s available. Offered in the past have been basil, beans, beets, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, garlic, leeks, shallots, lettuce, onions, peppers, parsnip, a variety of potatoes, pumpkins, rutabagas, tomatoes, turnips, a variety of winter squash and zucchini. Also offered have been chestnuts, nuts, holiday fruit baskets, honey, fruit, flowers and more. The telephone number is 503-253-0271. Learn more at www.giustofarms.com. The five properties that currently owned and farmed for Giusto Farms: • One-half acre is situated behind the Giusto Farms produce stand near Northeast 162nd Avenue and Sandy Boulevard. • Eight acres lie north of Interstate 84 and east of 162nd Avenue. • In Mulino, Ore., there are 35 acres, with 12 to 15 acres of that farmed and the rest left to hay production. • At Northeast 147th Avenue and Sandy Boulevard, there are 22 acres, with Giusto Farms farming 11. The Rossi family owns the remainder; currently Albert Garre is farming that acreage. • On the east side of Northeast 122nd Avenue near Fremont Street are nine to 10 acres, connected on the southern-most section to the Rossi Farms property. |
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