August 18, 2018 - September 19, 2018
Lonely Mountain Farm in Watsonville, California is officially the first farm I’ve WWOOFed at and man has it been an experience. It’s kind of taken me a long time to make this post but I’m going to go into as much detail as I can about the farm and what we do here.
So the farm is run by Molly and Kenny Baker and has been in production for about 5 years. The farm is a five acre plot of land in a valley of Watsonville, about 15 miles south of Santa Cruz. They’ve grown a lot as a farm and as a business in the time they’ve been here and being a part of that production has been incredible.
The farm is all organic, with so many different types of produce that I don’t think I could even list them. They grow 11 different types of tomatoes, dozens of varieties of gorgeous flowers, strawberries, cucumbers, grapes, squash, peppers, egg plant, husk cherries, herbs, and so much more- and these are just the things that grow in the summer/fall.
The farm itself is a beautiful place; every color and shape you can imagine, all in one place, blooming in hundreds of different ways. The weather is also incredible, brisk and chilly in the mornings thanks to the marine layer from the sea, then warm and cloudless thanks to the never ending sunshine until dusk. It’s been a mild summer here and it never rains, but it’s still been an amazing way to experience this region of California.
Now, let’s get down to business. What does my day to day look like here? How have I been spending the last month? Let’s take a look:
Monday: Mondays are pretty laid back here at Lonely Mountain; we usually start the day either weeding, planting, or harvesting produce to fulfill orders (restaurants in the area order a lot of their produce from here so we need to make sure that we get it to them). Some days we do something new and fun, like landscaping/beautifying the farm space. At the beginning of my time here, Monday nights were a great night for everyone to get together and hang out before heading off to bed, which falls around 9pm for most everyone here.
Tuesday: Tuesday’s are fairly similar to Monday’s, but usually everyone falls into pace for the rest of the week. Kenny will try to switch things up and give us something new to do before the rest of the week hits.
Wednesday: This is the start of harvest during the week for us. During the summer and late into the fall, the farm sells their produce up at the San Francisco farmers markets in Thursday’s and Saturday’s, leaving Wednesday- Friday as heavy harvest days. Wednesday’s aren’t as intense, but from 9-12 we’ll usually start on something like gurken (tiny, watermelon-looking cucumbers) or peppers, then move on to tomatoes from after lunch until the end of the day. There are 11 different types of tomatoes here, and at least 3 rows of each type, so we spend a lot of time picking tomatoes.
Thursday: Thursday’s look a LOT like Wednesday’s. It’s all essentially the same, but one day closer to the weekend.
Friday: Friday’s are tomato picking day baby!!! We’ll usually wind up picking 50 boxes of tomatoes at a minimum on fridays- yeah, I told you, lots. Friday’s are fun because a lot of time everyone will hang out together around the fire, listen to some records, and have some brews to wind down after a hard work day.
Now that we know what the work week looks like, let’s get to know the folks on the farm! I won’t be posting pictures without consent, but the people I’ve met here have made an impact on me and I want to share their stories!!
The Baker Family: Practically the whole family lives here on the farm y’all, it’s been so cool to meet and hang out with everyone. Kenny and Molly, who run the farm, are both incredibly laid back and cool. They’re both passionate about what they do and have two beautiful kids- River and Ruby. They’re both spunky and independent toddlers that love meeting their new neighbors (aka wwoofers). Dawn, Kenny’s sister, her husband Tim, and their baby Elliot live on the property as well. Dawn keeps goats and works as a wedding planner/photographer, and Tim works at Whole Foods. They’re both easy to talk to and hang out with.
The Baker Family dogs: Now you might be laughing that I included the dogs in this post but hear me out people!! There are four amazing dogs that live on the farm, each with their own huge personality (I will be posting photos of them because they’re adorable and amazing). Kenny and Molly have Cubsy and Oso, Border Collie and Australian Shepard respectively, both of which are smart, loving, and hilarious dogs that will follow you around and let you give them love until only their hearts are content. They protect the farm and will chase a ball at any time of day. Dawn and Tim have Shugee and Luna, who are night and day from Cubs and Os. Shug is an old lab lady whose brain is 80% ball and Luna is a big, goofy, baby who sleeps all day and chases coyotes all night. They’re both sweet as can be, just don’t tell the others that Luna is the crowd favorite.
Justin and Amy: These two are friends of the owners that have lived and worked on the farm since it kicked off four years ago. They’re both calm, cool, and collected on top of being kind, fun, and smart as hell. Justin is a world traveler with loads of stories and Amy is a spunky gardener who loves adventure. They’re both really knowledabgle when it comes to plants, music, and travel. They’ve been an amazing inspiration for me and it’s been so much fun hanging with them.
The WWOOFers: I’ve met a bunch of people here at the farm and they’re each as unique as they are cool.
Louis (pronounced Loui) is a 28 year old from Montreal, Canada. He’s on hiatus from a graduate program focusing on sustainable agriculture and plans to wwoof in Hawaii next. He loves Sci Fi and philosophy and hopes to have a small farm one day. He’s probably one of the smartest people I’ve ever met so it’s been cool to listen to him talk about what he’s passionate about all these weeks. He’s planning on biking down to LA in October to continue his adventure.
Hahn is a 19 year old UC Santa Cruz student that wwoofed here for two months before heading on a work backpacking trip before school starts. He plays guitar, surfs, and is chill as can be. I didn’t have a ton of time to get to know Hahn but he was really cool and fun to be around.
Louisa is a 20 year old from upstate New York who’s taking a break from college to farm. She’s also studying sustainable agriculture and is incredibly knowledgeable in her field. She’s staying here a month then heading to Panama to continue wwoofing! She was the first female wwoofer I got to meet which was a huge relief because Molly, Dawn, and Amy were the only women I’d really interacted with for about three weeks. She’s a huge dead head, is super chilled out and sweet. She’s been a blast because ever since she’s been on the farm we’ve been making huge meals non stop (that’s for another post that you’ll definitely want to see).
Deborah is a 30 year old from Southern Germany who quit her job, moved out of her apartment, and decided I was time to travel the world. She’s starting here in California, then going to Chile, India, and many other places I’m sure! She’s spunky, sweet, and is making me speak German with her so it’s really a win-win!
I’ve clearly had an incredible experience here on the farm and there will be more specific posts to come but I’m so lucky and grateful that my first farm has taught me so much about myself and farming. What a ride it’s been y’all!
Stay curious and happy travels!
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