Family bets the farm on produce outlet, and it pays off handsomely

CRAIG REED/The News-Review Evan Kruse operates a tractor and pulls a disc through a Kruse Farms prune orchard in the Garden Valley area west of Roseburg Thursday. Evan is the great-grandson of Bert Kruse who purchased the family's first farm acreage in Garden Valley in 1923.

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CRAIG REED/The News-Review Terrie Kincheloe sorts through pears and apples Wednesday in the Kruse Farms produce stand off Melrose Road.

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CRAIG REED/The News-Review Representing three generations of the Kruse family are, right to left, Don Kruse, 81, son Jeff, 61, daughter Karen, 55, and grandson Evan, 33. Kruse Farms was started in 1923 by Don Kruse's father, Bert, with an initial purchase of 15 acres off Quail Lane in the Garden Valley area west of Roseburg.

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CRAIG REED/The News-Review Terrie Kincheloe sorts through pears and apples Wednesday in the Kruse Farms produce stand off Melrose Road.

Editor’s Note: The following is the ninth in a monthly series — Homegrown: Made in Douglas County — that appears on The News-Review Business page. Profiles of companies with roots deep in Douglas County will be featured in this series. To suggest a company, email business reporter Craig Reed at creed@nrtoday.com. LOCATION — 532 Melrose Road, Roseburg. COMPANY HISTORY — Bert Kruse started the farm in 1923 when he purchased 15 acres off Quail Lane in Garden Valley. The property had been logged, so Kruse spent the next three to four years removing the stumps with a Fordson tractor and …