Mount Shasta & Lassen Region Farm & Food Economy

I had the opportunity to sit in on a luncheon on July 10th 2012 at the Gaia Hotel in Anderson and learn about our local farm and food economy.  Growing Local (a local grassroots group promoting what their name implies) hosted Ken Meter from the Crossroads Resource Center from Minnesota to give a talk on his findings of our local economy.  Other speakers included Dr. Glenda Humiston (State Director, USDA Rural Development and also fellow Ag Leadership alumni) and Dr. Shermain Hardesty (Director UC Davis Small Farm Program).

The two-hour event was very informative and really highlighted what this area is all about.  There aren't a lot of big corporate farms here compared to other areas in the state, but we are known well for small farms owned/managed by retirees.  We definitely lack infrastructure for agricultural processing.  I know that is kinda funny for me to agree with (considering Prather Ranch currently has the only USDA inspected beef processing facility in the "focus" area of the study).

One interesting thing Ken mentioned was that if every consumer in our focus area spent just $5 week on purchasing local foods, it would result in $89 million in new farm income for our local farmers.  He felt the best way to economic recovery in our region is to invest in our farms and food production systems and start supporting our neighbors once again.

I couldn't agree more.

After the presentation we had a tour of Churn Creek Meadow Organic Farm, owned and operated by Mary and Albert Occasion.  It was interesting to hear about their operation, how they produce their vegetables (I got a few ideas for my garden at home) and their thoughts on local food production.  The tour was around 3:00 and about 105 degrees.  The tour participants looked much more wilted than the farm.

Basil at Churn Creek Meadow Organic Farm

The next tour stop was a talk from me about Prather Ranch at our Bella Vista Ranch.  I shaded everyone up in the hay barn and I spoke about the history of the Bella Vista ranch, the history of Prather Ranch, our current operation and I even let them in on a few of my "Project X" secrets I've been working on.  Shhhhh!!!!!

Here's a link to an article about the event:

http://www.redding.com/news/2012/jul/10/food-analyst-grow-connections-between-farms

North Valley Ag Tour

I participated in an "agricultural tour" of a few locations in the Sacramento Valley.  Matson and Isom was hosting an annual accounting conference in Chico and this tour and I asked if I was interested in attending... of course!

We first met in Chico and drove to River West farms off Hwy 45.  They are both almond producers and processors.  This facility was spotless.  It was probably the cleanest agricultural processing facility I've ever seen.  These folks export a lot of almonds overseas and their buyers want it clean.  Impressive folks, impressive location... thanks for the 10 lbs. of raw almonds too!

www.riverwestprocessing.com

Our next visit was of Lucero Olive Oil in Corning.  I'm a fan of Lucero, they certainly have taken olive oil to the next level.  Now if they can take Corning to the next level, then I'll be a devout follower.  We had a quick tour of the processing facility.  I have had to appraise olive oil equipment for a local producer before, so I was quite interested with their malaxer.

They were passing out samples of the Mandarin orange olive oil with a small bit of vanilla ice cream- and WOW I was sold.  Thanks, once again, Lucero, for the great olive oil.  I always leave with a new flavor, basil, garlic, and don't even get me started on the flavors of balsamic too.

My hat is off to Dewey Lucero (also a Cal Poly SLO graduate) who is apparently the one responsible for their new venture.  Keep up the great work!

http://lucerooliveoil.com/

We went to Lassen Steak House for lunch.  Yep.  Right off the 99 at Vina.  Yep.  I was once told if you don't have anything nice to say then don't say it at all.  So, moving on.

When in Vina, you do as the Trappist monks do.  Luckily they grow great wine in a phenomenal location- the New Clairvaux Vineyard.  We learned about the impressive history of the property, took a small tour of the grounds, toured the Sacred Stones project (the reconstruction of an 800 year old Cistercian monastery from Spain) and tasted some wine.  The wine was great, it was a nice warm day and at the first sip of Albarino and I was sold.  The Abbots Reserve was also great.  I was extremely close to joining the wine club, but decided that if I came back and still enjoyed the wines, they may have to be my "local" wine club.

http://www.newclairvauxvineyard.com/

Our group got on the bus and headed straight for Chico.  Next stop- Sierra Nevada Brewery.  How much more do I need to say here?  I've never been on the tour before, and it is very well done.  It is absolutely worth the time.  There is some beer sampling at the end (I've already done my homework) but I did enjoy chatting with the tour guide regarding new beers on the horizon.

http://www.sierranevada.com/

So whatever happened with that organic strawberry nursery deal?

2005 Harvest

I get that question periodically.  So... here's the version straight from the source.

We all know that organic certification requires that all organic growers plant organic planting stock or organic seed when commercially available.  Here they are:  

NOP 205.204 (a) The producer must use organically grown seeds, annual seedlings and planting stock: Except, That (1) Nonorganically produced, untreated seeds and planting stock may be used to produce an organic crop when an equivalent organically produced variety is not commercially available… “

 

NOP 205.2 Commercially Available: The ability to obtain a production input in an appropriate form, quality or quantity to fulfill an essential function in a system of organic production or handling, as determined by the certifying agent in the course of reviewing the organic plan”.

I was the sole source of organic strawberry planting stock in the United States in the planting years of 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009.  For these five years, I literally gave plants away to establish my name and reputation in this business.  I was establishing some great long term working relationships with some great people and life was good.  My product was of such high quality my plants were literally selling themselves- if I could get a box or two of plants planted on an organic farm those people would be my customers for life.

2009 Organic Strawberry Nursery

2009 was my fifth year of organic strawberry plant production.  Anyone who grew organic strawberries (specifically in CA) knew I existed.  Word in the furrow was that the main certifiers weren't properly enforcing the "if available" rule, as many growers were still using conventional plants when clearly the organic plants were commercially available at similar prices and all the main varieties.

In 2009 I had eight acres of organic strawberry nursery plants, harvested them and sold the crowns in the fall of 2009 and dormant crowns in early 2010.  I produced nearly two million plants with eight different varieties.  I wasn't getting the sales this year like I had in the past... I had done two different harvests of different varieties to offer the best varieties at all times throughout the planting season.  I pretty much did everything I could do on my end to provide high quality, low cost organic planting stock to the organic strawberry industry at all times in the optimal planting window.  Unfortunately I was not supported by the majority of my fellow organic growers.  

2009 Harvest

An organic strawberry grower in Watsonville, Stephen Pederson at Two Small Farms wrote an article that is pretty descriptive for his CSA.  It is from an organic strawberry grower's perspective, completely unsolicited on my part and quite entertaining for me to read.

http://www.twosmallfarms.com/Newsletters.pdf/2010/TSF%20Newsletter%20April%207%202010.pdf

He hit the nail pretty hard on the head.  Growers weren't being enforced because the vertically integrated companies were using conventional plants on the majority (if not all) of their organic fields.

Swanton Berry Farms freshly-planted field with Prather Ranch nursery plants

My 2009 crop year was devastating for me.  I grew nearly two million plants and had to throw away hundreds of thousands of plants that sat in cold storage in Watsonville and in Redding.  If it weren't for the plants I sold as conventional it would have been a total flop.  Yes, you heard that right... my plants were boxed up as conventional plants and they sold much better than if they were marketed as organic plants.

I did not plant my nursery in 2010.  Ironically, I won the IPM Innovator Award by the California Department of Pesticide Regulation in March of 2010, right as I was shipping the last of my plants out.  Bittersweet to say the least.

One day I was contacted by an investigative reporter who was going to write an article for the New York Times.  It pretty well speaks for itself.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/us/farmers-seek-to-raise-standards-for-berries.html?_r=1&ref=sanfranciscobayarea

This made some waves in the industry.  I soon was on NPR marketplace, on Mother Earth News, Grist, and a bunch of other industry publications.  I did have some interesting conversations after these articles.  I'm still not convinced the industry fully supports me.  Why waste my time and energy if the industry does not fully want it?

So that's where I am... working on some beautiful ranches, I've got some great projects in the hopper and life is grand.  Will I ever grow organic plants again?  I'm afraid that isn't up for me to decide... it's up to the organic industry.  

TEDx Redding

Why do you TED?

Earlier this year I was nominated and accepted to be a speaker at the first TEDx Redding event.  What a great experience it was!  I enjoyed developing the talk and getting my message out to the world.  I also got to work with some tremendous people, who now I consider friends.  Hat's off to everyone who made the first TEDx event in Redding a smashing success!

Here's a link to my You Tube TEDx Redding talk from February 2012:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xe5y3LBjLcE

To Plant A City

Greetings!  It's been a while... I've been up to a ton of stuff lately.

I thought I'd start with this link of a local food documentary I was a part of recently.  It was created by Tyler Faires and Toby Johnston, two local Shasta County natives who wanted to find out more on the local food scene.  It won best documentary on the Sundial Film Festival in 2012.  Enjoy!

To Plant A City, Tyler Faires & Toby Johnston

http://toplantacity.tylerfaires.com/

http://vimeo.com/34549860

Blog much? No, not really....

Welcome back! (I'm merely saying this to myself) I thought I'd take a moment and write an update to my one follower (hey Jack!).

I just finished up my last seminar in Pomona last week. I had to make it up due to Ashton being born. The next class is visiting the Middle East, and spent time learning about Muslims & Islam. We toured a mosque in Chino. This was a fascinating experience, to get the first-hand experience of a religion that often has "radical" attached to it.

Islam is a wide spread of a religion, much like any other. Some are radicals (9/11 terrorists) and murder in the name of Islam, while others take on the more pacifist and peaceful approach. At any rate, it is an interesting religion that I didn't know much about. I still don't know much about it, but I've at least been exposed to it.

It was nice to finish up the last seminar on a good note. It would have been nice to spend it with my classmates (and not Class 40) but regardless, it was good to meet everyone in the next class and wish them well before their big journey. I'm excited for them- they will represent the program well.

Real life is calling. Time to shift gears and get to work!

Synthesis

This morning I had the pleasure of talking about my trip to the Redding Sunrise Rotary. They were a cheery bunch (especially for 7 AM) and all seemed to enjoy my presentation. I didn't notice any nodding off at least...

I took over 1,000 photos on my journey, and I condensed these down to 30 powerpoint slides and talked for 20 minutes. This was a chore, trying to condense over two weeks of experiences into 20 minutes. I merely focused on the major locations I visited and only included a few side stories- other than that I had to focus on the basics. I finished my speech with two minutes to spare for questions (and my long-winded answers got me over my time allocation). I think it went well, as I had many people come up to me afterwards and shake my hand, telling me how great of a job I did. I had the President of the group also trying to recruit me, which I may have to consider.

Later today I'm traveling to Williams to have a synthesis session with my fellow classmates (or at least my northern California contingent). I get the opportunity to talk more about this amazing experience and reflect upon it. Since I have been back, I have been very busy and had little time to reflect on this blog. Tonight at synthesis, I will have a good chance to take some notes (maybe I'll pack my computer) and put my scattered thoughts down in print. If they are worthy enough, maybe I will share them on here.