Farming in Urban Orange County

I am an urban farmer, biologist, and aspiring social entrepreneur. I grow food on 16,000 square feet of prime Orange County soil at a botanical garden in Fullerton, CA. This blog is where I write about turning seeds, soil, sun, water, and sweat into sustenance.

[socalurbanfarmer]

I've been extremely absent lately but I think I have a good reason! This Urban Farmer has been working hard to secure a plot of land and move to the country. I am sad to be deserting my urban colleagues but I can't wait to get started doing all of the things that an abundance of land allows. 

We don't have a name for the farm yet but we will have one soon. For now, I'll say that we have 20 acres of land at 3500' in Aguanga, California - just outside of Southern California's wine country in Temecula. 

Our big plan - To make goat's cheese and wonderful food that goes with it.

I've also been busy with my new food-curation company - ourlocaltopia. Follow me here or there for updates!

[socalurbanfarmer]

A gallery of cucurbits! Pumpkins, squash, and gourds!

http://ourlocaltopia.com/2013/10/14/a-gourmets-guide-to-gourds-pumpkins-squash/

[socalurbanfarmer]

A great use for fresh figs!

Check out our quick video and learn how to make ricotta cheese. Serve it with fresh figs, grilled bread, and honey for an easy and dramatic snack! Yum! -Home...

If you have some great figs you should think about making fresh ricotta. Serve it up on grilled bread and drizzle with honey.

Watch this video for the technique. The recipe follows.

I filmed this video with the folks at www.OurLocalTopia.com

[socalurbanfarmer]

Easter Eggs Naturally Dyed

[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/62224240 w=640&h=360]

Learn how to dye eggs with natural materials. If you want to forgo the usual food-colouring and go with some natural dyes, this film should get you started. I shot and edited the film in collaboration with

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[socalurbanfarmer]

Intro to Composting

Home Composting class at Fullerton Arboretum

I taught a home composting class today. Thank you to…

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[socalurbanfarmer]

I made this video on preserving meyer lemons with salt. The music's pretty catchy too! More kitchen action on the way.

[socalurbanfarmer]

(Blowing dust from the keyboard) I've been gone for more than a little while - my last post was in July and I'd like to chalk things up to a busy summer cultivating the fields, but I think that that excuse is a few months past honest. 

One of the things that I have done is develop a new website where I can organize my content so that it can more easily be used as a resource for the would-be gardener. 

Since July, the garden beds have moved from summer veg into cool-season crops. Cabbages, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, romanesco, potatoes, garlic, leeks, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, and dill are currently flourishing in the cool, moist weather that we've been having. The searingly-hot Southern Californian summer is fast approaching. Transplanting tomatoes into the bed where I am currently growing cabbage is but three weeks away. 

I've also been bringing the camera into the kitchen and using it to make short films. My next post will be a short film that I've just made. 

Thank you to those who encouraged me to keep posting. 

I was always planning on continuing but the nudges were inspiring. With camera snapping and keys clicking, I am in the saddle once again!

[socalurbanfarmer]

Do you know where I can buy fresh Amaranth leaves in Orange County?

I haven't seen amaranth greens for sale in Orange County. It's extremely easy to grow, particularly in summer. I have even seen it volunteer in a gravel parking lot. Baker Creek heirloom seeds carries many nice varieties as does Kitazawa Seeds. 

[socalurbanfarmer]

Hi - I founded a local co-op of growers in Orange County and we've been trying to find solutions to the bagrada bug. Do you have any recommendations? Thank you. Faith TheCoolCucumberCommunityCooperative

I'd be interested to hear more about your collective.

I had a lot of trouble with Bagradas during their first big season here but they haven't been too much trouble lately. The weather this summer seems to have favoured their populations so this winter might be a tough one for Brassicas. I have only been able to control them by covering with floating row cover - It is available through Peaceful Valley Farm Supply or you can pick it up locally from McConkey Nursery Supply.

I have tried to spray with a homemade habanero and garlic mixture which seemed to help with the younger instars of the bugs - the adults were still kicking. I even tried organic pyrethrins but really don't like to use such broad spectrum compounds. They didn't seem to work all that well either. I ended up simply squashing them by hand. I was out every day around noon squishing all of the bugs that I saw. Perches for birds might help as well. The Black Phoebes here really seem to enjoy eating them. It can't hurt.

The bugs do seem to favour different crops and varieties so I would try to plant a diversity of any one crop and cover them tightly. You really need to protect the growing points since this is where the insect prefers to feed and where the most damage is done.  

Good luck. I hope you get yourself a few decent heads of cabbage.

[socalurbanfarmer]

Farm Stand Today....

...and the tomatoes are pumping out the fruit! Eighty-five plants gave me around 150 pounds of delicious heirloom fruit today. We also had bell and chile peppers, cucumbers, summer squash, onions, and honey.

Some of My Favourite Heirloom Tomato Varieties

Costoluto Genovese - Red and fluted/scalloped variety in the third photo

Black Krim - A widely celebrated heirloom that is lightly scalloped with a purple skin (last photo)

Reisetomate - The clustered variety in the bottom left corner of the second photo. Individual fruits are like fused clusters of cherry tomatoes.

[socalurbanfarmer]

The plants are hopping lately. Long days and clear skies have them growing at an astounding rate. All I have to do is keep the soil wet and the weeds at bay.

These are the first figs from a tree that I planted last year. I'm not sure what the variety is but the man who gave me the plant said it was a variety that his family grew in lebanon. The fruit is delicious. 

I cover crop throughout the summer with buckwheat. Going from seed to flower in just 40 days, you can't beat this plant for a quick bit of mulch and a bucket of nectar for the bees.

Yamato Extra-Long Japanese Cucumber - Unless you're really into canned pickles you should consider Japanese slicing varieties for your garden. They are thin skinned, extremely crispy and always seem to taste exactly as a cucumber should. 

Vietnamese amaranth is easy to grow, its seed is easy to thresh, and the plant is beautiful and drought tolerant. The seeds are high in protein and the leaves can be prepared like swiss chard. This plant is around five feet tall but some varieties can exceed twelve!

[socalurbanfarmer]

Summer is well underway and the farm stand is colouring up nicely.

Here is some of the beautiful food:

Sunflowers - Not exactly food at this stage, but pretty anyhow

Honey - Our delicious wildflower honey; this stuff flies of the shelf!

Potatoes - Colorado Rose, All-Blue, Binje

Peppers - Too many varieties to name (or more honestly, remember)

Leeks - A handful of leeks are the last of the winter crops to come out of the ground

[socalurbanfarmer]

Visit to Kiler Canyon Farms

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to visit Kiler Canyon Farm, an idyllic expanse of fertile vegetable beds, pasture, and oak-covered hillsides just outside of Paso Robles, California. I was invited by a friend of mine who is one of two interns on the farm (thanks Rory!). The family that tends and owns the farm gave me a tour and welcomed me into their home. When I imagine farming on my own land in a beautiful and rural place this is what I picture. 

The vegetable beds were diverse, planted to the gills, and thriving. A vegetable CSA is the basis of the farm but the family also keeps a few healthy dairy cows, chickens, and pigs. The best loaves of bread that I have seen since I have lived in the US came out of the farms wood-fired oven shortly before I arrived. On top of the bread I had a gruyere-like cheese that had just come out of the cheese cave where it had been ripening for a year.

I left the farm with a gallon of fresh milk from the farm's Jersey cow. The milk was topped by a thick layer of golden cream for which the Jersey cow is famous. I guzzled the majority of the gallon and made yoghurt with the rest. 

If you live near Paso Robles or Atascadero (or have a friend that does) you can (and should) eat the incredible food grown organically by Kiler Canyon Farm. You can do so by purchasing a share of the harvest through the farm's CSA - http://kilercanyonfarm.com/csashares.html. All of our food should be grown by people like this.

[socalurbanfarmer]

Farm Stand Today!

Onions - Red Southern Belle along with some Texas Super Sweets (not pictured)

Sugarsnap Peas - Super sweet and snappy 

Parsnips - The roots aren't over yet

Premium Late Flat Dutch Cabbage - These are over 6 pounds a piece

[socalurbanfarmer]

More Sub-Tropical Fruit in Spring

The plants in the sub-tropical fruit grove have been flowering and setting fruit. 

This one's got a heap of names: Indiana Banana, Hoosier Banana, Poor-Man's Banana, Pawpaw. It is the largest of the edible fruits of North America and not even closely related to bananas. It is native to the southeastern and midwestern U.S. but can also be found growing in the Carolinian forest of the very southern tip of Ontario, Canada - the province of which I am also native. The pawpaw's texture is very similar to a ripe mango with a wonderful tangy flavour. 

Rose apple - Belonging to the nutmeg family, this fruit is related to neither roses nor apples. This fruits aroma is overwhelmingly similar to roses with a snappy apple-like texture. An interesting fruit, certainly; one that I want to eat a whole bucket of, certainly not. 

[socalurbanfarmer]

More Sub-Tropical Fruit in Spring

The plants in the sub-tropical fruit grove have been flowering and setting fruit. 

The macadamia nuts flowered recently and have just set fruit. This photos shows the fruits (follicles) beginning to develop. 

The Surinam cherry is not a cherry at all but belongs to the nutmeg family (Myrtaceae). The cultivated fruits of this family always seem to have strong, distinct "myrtaceous" flavours that I can only describe as resinous or "turpentine-y". They're certainly unique and not unpleasant. If you love turpentine, they're delicious. 

[socalurbanfarmer]

Sub-Tropical Fruit in Spring

The plants in the sub-tropical fruit grove have been flowering and setting fruit. 

Bananas flower throughout the spring and summer - this is the first plant to flower this season. The Cavendish bananas that you get in the grocery store are just an example of how a banana can taste. Ours have a smoother, moister flesh with a more acidic flavour. 

Pineapple guavas (not a true guava) or feijoas are my favourite fruit in the grove. These will be ready in the late summer. They have a stony texture like a guava or pear with a moist, gelatinous interior. The flavour is certainly reminiscent of pineapples.