It's hard to believe berries are already in flower, but this photo was taken last month at Free Wheelin' Farm, on the bus tour with the Eco-Farm conference I attended.
Logan and I headed up the coast yesterday to meet with Amy Courtney, who farms the one-acre plot on one of the prettiest spots on the Pacific Coast Highway. Very strangely, we never found her, but we wandered around, and Logan talked to the chickens for a little while. No photos, though: I thought I'd wait for an actual meet-up with Amy.
Later in the evening, she telephoned to say she'd been there, and we both remarked on what mysterious circumstances kept her hidden from view to us, given that we were there for about fifteen or twenty minutes. Maybe she was wearing Harry Potter's invisibility cloak.
The farm is truly a beautiful place, overlooking both train tracks—I happen to love trains—and a cow pasture before you hit the cliffs and the Pacific Ocean. Amy called it "magical," and if you stand there, you know what she's talking about.
We chatted for a while on the phone: she told me she'd worked for Jim Cochran at Swanton Berry Farm for two years, and told him she really wanted to do more farming and less management. She said, "I wanted to really get to know the systems," and I think she meant the way things grow.
He had this one-acre piece of land that was, by all account, overlooked and overgrown. They worked out a deal for Amy to lease it, and after a couple of weeks, Jim said, "Just take it. I'm not using it," and gave her the use of the land. (He's got a reputation for his generosity, and you see why.)
All over the place, painted icons seem to guard the rows of crops, which right now are pretty much cover crops and dormant strawberries. (She may have some garlic under straw, but I didn't ask.)
Amy and I will hook up next week for a proper visit, and I can only say that I am very happy to have met her. She's doing work that most people can't even imagine, not even the farmers I know. Hand tools and not petroleum-based machinery are Amy's allies, with the exception of a single propane torch for weeding. She recently acquired a biodiesel truck, too. Primitive? No, committed.
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ANNOUNCEMENT! I have been invited to be part of a panel at an upcoming farming conference in Chicago. It's not a paying gig, alas, and all my expenses are out-of-pocket. So I'm having a fundraiser for myself, and here's the deal. I have seven $100 gift certificates to Manresa restaurant, which are (of course) authentic. If you would like to purchase one or the whole lot, I am selling them for $90 each. Yes, I could sell them for less, but I really need to raise money to pay for my trip.
E-mail me, or leave a comment here, if you are interested in supporting my work with the purchase of one (or all) of these gift certificates. Who knows, maybe we'll have a bidding war! (I kid.)
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(At right, some of the chickens at Free Wheelin' Farm.)
There is a new buzz at the Santa Cruz farmers market: I hear from Scott of Happy Boy Farms that a new farmers market on the west side of town will be starting up on Saturdays in May, rivaling the big market at Cabrillo College. The location will justify its existence: the west side is densely populated and, let's face it, that's where a lot of the big money is in the county. They'll be located at the enormous Wrigley facility. I'm pretty excited about that, since my farmer friends who've been unable to participate in the Saturday market will be able to sell now.
Meanwhile, I've been working with Jim and Betsy of TLC Ranch to get a logo designed for their wonderful products, and it was great to see Jim at the market yesterday. We visited the ranch last week, and Logan cannot stop saying, "More dat!" when I mention the chickens. (They have six hundred of them!) That's the ranch, at left: the chickens are enclosed in a movable pen, at the moment on top of an artichoke field. They'll whittle it down to nothing in no time flat. Amazing workers, are the chickens.
And good to see Heidi, of H & &H Fresh Fish, who is getting close to her third trimester, and who looks gorgeous. (What's new there?) Hans and Heidi (yes, those are their real names) are now at the Sunday farmers market in Montclair: if you're in the Oakland area, by all means, buy their fish, and tell them I sent you. (I heart Hans and Heidi.)
Logan was in rare form, blowing huge kisses to everyone, and he had a crowd of people laughing with his antics. Oh, such a joy is this boy.
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That's all for today. More news soon. Send me to Chicago! (I think I'll have a very exciting announcement to make soon about Chicago, let me just say.)
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "If you were plowing a field, which would you rather use? Two strong oxen or 1024 chickens?" —Seymoure Cray
(Jim Dunlop uses chickens, as you can see above.)
Oh, heck, make it two thoughts, because I just found this one and I love it.
SECOND THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: "The author O. Henry taught me about the value of the unexpected. He once wrote about the noise of flowers and the smell of birds - the birds were chickens and the flowers dried sunflowers rattling against a wall." —Chuck Jones
Thanks for visiting. (I apologize for not being able to write more frequently lately, but things in the family have been happening, and require a lot of attention. This should be improving soon.)
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