A sense of pride and responsibility comes with being a fifth-generation caretaker of the Obersinner Century Farm.

Joe Obersinner manages Obersinner Nursery, which sprang out of the family farm in 1979 with his father’s first rhododendron cuttings, a high school project.

“He started with about a quarter of an acre and by 1982 had his first sellable plants,” Joe said.

His parents, David and Marge, own and are very much involved in the 1,200-acre farm and nursery near Silverton, Ore. Joe’s twin brother, Jake, works on the farm side, growing grass seed, hazelnuts, blueberries, onions, green beans, broccoli and cauliflower.

The nursery grows 100-plus rhododendron varieties, ornamental shrubs, boxwood, arborvitae and grafted material including Japanese maple, spruce, pine and beech trees. Their 45 greenhouses stay chock full.

“My dad also started diversifying; he is responsible for the many farm crops we grow now,” Obersinner said. “Back then it was cattle, grain, sugar beets and cane berries but it wasn’t until the 1980s when my dad came in full time that we added more vegetable crops and got into onions, grass seed and blueberries.”

The farm and nursery maintain an experienced 30-employee crew all year, and Obersinner cannot praise them enough.

“They work long hours when needed and don’t just show up,” he said. “Everybody gets along very well, which makes everything flow so much better.

“Aside from our excellent crew, our diversity is what makes us unique,” he said. “There’s no crystal ball; we won’t harvest things planted in the field for five or six years, but we don’t have all our eggs in one basket.”

Obersinner joined the farm seven years ago after graduating from Oregon State University in agricultural sciences and horticulture.

“I wanted to pick up some stuff I might not learn here but knew I’d learn the most by coming back,” he said. “I like coming to work because even though I see the same stuff every day there’s always some new issue to be solved or a plant that needs to be cared for in a little different way.

“It’s a special feeling when you take a rooted cutting or something from seed, plant it and watch it grow over six years, harvest it and then be able to sell a nice plant with confidence,” he said.

Every year Obersinner puts in about 65,000 new rhodies and ships 100,000 plants. Many of the nursery’s customers have been around 20-25 years, in large part the result of David’s networking at the Far West Show, the huge show sponsored by the Oregon Association of Nurseries.

In recent years, Obersinner Nursery added an excavator with a B&B digging implement and three “hummer bees” — forklifts built for field terrain so named because they were first used for setting out bee boxes.

“We’re able to send out a forklift rather than carry stuff out by hand; some of those B&B trees weigh 250 to 350 pounds,” Obersinner said.

He looks forward to adding more pot-in-pot setups. The drip systems water 16 acres in 80 minutes compared to 4 hours with overhead watering.

“It is very expensive but in the long run saves you water,” he said. “The roots are a lot more protected; they’re just overall happier in there.”