Too much to do, too little time

Argh! The pile of belongings I'm taking to South America continues to grow. I have a big heap in the corner of my office. The stack of papers on my desk continues to grow as well... I've been burning the candle at both ends to get everything accomplished before my trip. Strawberry plant sales. Organic certification questions. Beef questions. More strawberry plant sales. Peru questions. My email inbox keeps getting new messages all the time- my poor blackberry can't keep up! Sleep is rare in my house (especially with the new baby)... the bags under my eyes are nearly as big as the duffel bag I'm taking on the trip!

My life has been consumed with helping the village of Huamani, a very small agricultural community in the foothills of the Andes, just outside of the city of Ica. My portion of our trip was to plan our service project, and indeed I've been planning. This village was hit hard by an earthquake in 2007, with many homes completely devastated. A group has formed to help rebuild these homes in an earthquake-proof fashion. Our class has come together and secured many donations to purchase materials for these homes. Later today, we'll be wiring money to Peru to purchase these materials, so they can be shipped well in advance of our arrival in Huamani next week. While we are in the village, we will roll up our sleeves and help out- this will be next Tuesday.

In typical over-achiever fashion, helping rebuild a village to me just isn't enough. I was able to get the contact information for the principal of the school as well, and our class has been out collecting school supplies for the children. I also love to play indoor soccer (at Big League Dreams) and have been soliciting donations of soccer balls as well. A member of our class, Josh, has a brother who is the women's soccer coach at Simpson University. Later today I'm going to drop by Simpson and pick up some old used balls of theirs and be able to take them with us to donate to the children.

If that wasn't enough, I heard that there was a woman in the village that is handicapped. Her wheelchair that she currently has is in very poor shape, and my contact down there asked if we could find one that be suitable for her. This quest started me down the path to Northern Rehab & Respritory on South Market street. I needed to find a chair that could be used off pavement (this village doesn't have any pavement at all!). They didn't have anything that would work, but did provide me of a contact who manufactures wheelchair wheels, Skyway, and guess what, they are located here in Redding. Small world! I drove up to the Mountain Lakes business park, found Skyway and introduced myself. Working with them, they directed me to contact a non-profit group down in Hollywood- Wheels for Humanity. Skyway donates a lot of wheels to this organization. I was set up with the president of the non-profit, and he has helped get a wheelchair constructed that fits this woman EXACTLY! One of my classmates in the LA area is going to pick it up later this week. How cool is that?

Writing on this blog isn't helping whittle down my to-do list... better get back to work!

Organic, Inc.

Today I'm headed to the CCOF annual conference. Should be an interesting time. Tim LaSalle is the keynote speaker... he's my uncle. It will be good to see him and hear him talk.

This event will also be interesting for other reasons... I've recently announced I'm not growing organic strawberry plants anymore. I'm the only commercial organic strawberry plant producer in the United States. There are many reasons for me dropping the nursery... one largely is that CCOF and other certifiers simply aren't enforcing the organic rules. If they were, I would have a successful business model. Instead, they let a lot of organic growers plant conventionally grown plants... plants that were grown in fumigated (via Methyl Bromide) conditions. If consumers who chose to buy organic strawberries knew that they still were supporting a production system that included the use of Methyl Bromide, they'd be appalled. I think this is ripe for a huge scandal- I can see the cover of Time Magazine with a big strawberry on the front- "Is this truly organic?"

Think I might just go have to write a book, "Organic, Inc." Heck, being critical of the ag system we have in place worked for M. Pollan, maybe it will work for me!

Prather Ranch Organic Strawberry Nursery

National Trip #8

We were nearing the end of the trip, and were getting exhausted! Our group piled in the bus and took a trip to the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Our class was escorted onto the campus and had a series of very intense discussions regarding nanotechnology, chemical bonding and energy storage. We heard about new applications in the solar industry and also had an interesting discussion regarding the future of cellulosic bio-fuels. Later on in the evening we participated in an experimental economics exercise regarding pollution credits.

Finally, the last day of the trip was upon us. Our class headed to the North Hadley Sugar Shack, a restaurant/maple syrup processing facility. I don't think it was possible to order anything on the menu that didn't contain maple syrup, and honestly, you wouldn't dare skip out on this stuff- it was the freshest maple syrup I've ever tasted. I didn't know maple syrup could taste so good... poor ol Mrs. Butterworth's... she is just a pale imitation to the real stuff.

After completely gorging ourselves at the amazing breakfast we had a tour of the facility, walked among the maple trees and learned about maple syrup production. It was refreshing to hear the story of this small family business thrive in such a niche industry. Our class walked out through the gift shop and purchased some of the delicious maple syrup.

You can order their amazing syrup online at http://www.northhadleysugarshack.com/ After eating this, it's hard to go back to the imitation stuff!

Our class piled into the bus one last time and headed back to Boston. We had a little time before we flew out in the evening, so we toured the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum. We meandered around the museum and learned about the life and presidency of JFK. We were then off to Logan Airport in Boston and headed home.

Class 39 outside the JFK Library and Museum, Boston

After a long trip back to San Francisco, I decided to make a quick trip to our store at the Ferry Building and enjoy a nice Saturday Farmers Market. Eating a nice big breakfast sandwich from our cooking stand, I was ready for the long trip back to the ranch. When I made it home in the afternoon, my wife told me she had some big news for me...... SHE WAS PREGNANT! What an unexpected twist for me after such a long and crazy trip.

National Trip #7

Cranberries!

Class 39 learned all there is to know about cranberry production, something that we don't see much in California. We first toured the UMass Cranberry Research Station in East. Wareham, MA. We had a great (but cold) tour of the fields, and all about the production. I did learn that our climate up in Fall River and even up in Macdoel would make cranberry production possible. Just what I need... another project!

After touring the experimental station, we hopped back on the bus and met with a local grower near Cape Cod. It was great to get the perspective of a local producer, somebody we all could relate to. We talked a lot about production and also about environmental regulations in Massachusetts (something us Californians are heavily burdened with). In some instances, they could get away with things we'd never dream of out here! I thought Massachusetts would be just as regulated as California, what a surprise!

"Just got done squaring off a new field..."

Dinner was at Plymouth, MA and we walked by the very disappointing Plymouth Rock. I was going to include a picture of it, but it may spoil it for those who have never seen it. I always have had a mental image of a massive rock off the coastline, similar to Morro Rock in Morro Bay (go Homer!) but this is far from it...

National Trip #6

Hello, Boston!

Once getting off the plane, we were stuck dead in our tracks... us Californians weren't used to the snow or the penetrating wind. People live in these conditions?

After resting overnight, we woke early to take a tour of the MA Port Authority. We learned about all the ins and outs of shipping large containers across the ocean. We learned how terrorism concerns have completely changed their industry. I was impressed at the size and scale of the operation- although it was nothing compared to the Port of Long Beach or the Port of Oakland.

We had the afternoon to ourselves, touring Boston. Our class broke into different groups, enjoying the town. We have read a lot about the Founding Fathers, and I had just read the John Adams book, so Boston had a lot of sites that fascinated me.

The next day our class went to the Greater Boston Food Bank. We had a talk from Catherine D'Amato, who is President and CEO. She started her talk with explaining a little about herself, including the fact she had a little connection with California, as she grew up in a small town called Redding. Once she finished this, the entire class turned and looked at me, I smiled, and said, "Let's talk later- I'm from Redding." Turns out her father ran a restaurant where the current Corbett's restaurant is located in downtown Redding. Small world!

Our class toured the facility. Another part of this experience was to roll up our sleeves and help those in need. We were directed into the sorting room, filled with boxes and conveyor belts. We were assigned various chores, and then we were off, sorting food. I was shocked to see the amount of unhealthy food that was donated to the food bank. There was a large amount of candy and junk food, pretty disappointing.

National Trip #5

Class 39 with Justice Scalia

Our last day in Washington D.C. was upon us. I put on my black suit one last time. Adjusted my tie in the mirror, hey, I was getting good at this tie thing. I was getting ready for a memorable day. I was going to meet a Supreme Court Justice, one of the most powerful people in the world.

Walking around the capital area on our trip, we walked by the Supreme Court building a few times. The long, white columns out front make it a very prominent building. It was like nothing compared to actually walking up the steps, walking through security and delving inside.

Our class was escorted through another security checkpoint and into a private room. It was a very formal room, podium up front and paintings lined the walls. We were seated, all looking around the room, taking it all in. Our class had developed a series of questions for Justice Scalia, we all were nervously re-reading our questions and talking quietly amongst ourselves. Upon waiting another five minutes, we all heard the footsteps coming down the hall towards us. He’s here. We all quickly stood and awaited the Justice.

The room was quiet, nobody in our class dared utter a sound. As Justice Scalia walked in the room, it was as if the breath was sucked out of my body. He was shorter than I imagined, but still the air of confidence preceded him. He walked up to the podium, took a quick look at our class, and started talking.

It essentially was a question and answer session for the next hour. We could not talk about specific ongoing cases, but we could talk about historic ones. I was immersed in the conversation, it was such a surreal moment. Before we knew it, our time was up. Justice Scalia wrapped up his thoughts, and we took a group photo with him, and he was on his way.

Walking out of the Justice Building, we all were on top of the world. What a great experience! We got to dig into the mind of a Supreme Court Justice, not something this rancher from Shasta County gets to do on a daily basis. We were back to the hotel with big smiles on our faces, picked up our luggage and then off to Reagan National Airport to catch an evening flight out.

Boston here we come!

National Trip #4

Class 39 getting ready to walk Pickett's Charge

Gettysburg Battlefield Tour- We were lucky to have a very knowledgeable tour guide- Dr. Colonel Randolph, who serves in the Department of Military Strategy and Logistics and as Director of the Agribusiness Industry Study for the Industrial College of the Armed Forces. Getting a tour of the Gettysburg battlefield with Col. Randolph was like walking around with a talking encyclopedia on war history. His knowledge was greatly appreciated.

It was a frigid March day in Pennsylvania. As bundled up as we could be, our class walked through the major locations in the battle. We climbed the observation tour and looked out over the battlefield. The class toured places such as Oak Ridge, Peach Orchard, Little Round Top and Devil’s Den. We viewed the location near the Gettysburg National Cemetery where President Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address. At the end of the day, we walked the route of Pickett’s Charge, where thousands of Confederate soldiers had been killed in one last, failed attack.

This was a powerful day. I had ancestors that fought for the Union during the Civil War. Although they did not fight in this horrible battle, it made me think of the price many paid for freedom. We talked about various leadership styles, from General Lee to Chamberlain. It was interesting to see how things could have become very different if it weren’t for a few key decisions. I’m glad things turned out the way they did, but on the other hand, I wish our country didn’t have to go through it at all.