Worth A Mint

An Oregon farmer keeps tradition alive with fresh holiday treats.

- Michele Wojciechowski

Nearly a decade ago, a Christmas confection as sweet as her name saved Candy Seely’s family farm in Clatskanie, Oregon. Third-generation mint farmers, she and her husband, Mike, thought about leaving the family business as prices for the mint oil they produced fell and costs rose. Then Candy whipped up the answer to their problems: homemade mint patties.

Now, every holiday season, Candy’s candies—Seely Mint Patties, Mint Bark, Mint Melts and Candy Canes—are available at Whole Foods locations across the country, as well as smaller stores. “What’s most exciting for me is the look on people’s faces when they taste the mints. Many of them will say, ‘I’m not a mint person.’ Then they’ll try one, and their eyes get wide, and they’ll say, ‘Oh my, I’ve never tasted anything like this,’” Candy says. “Food is such a personal way to connect with people. I really enjoy that.”