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In early May, Rio Gozo Farm owner Steve Sprinkel announced the expansion of his Ojai Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program “down river” to residents in Ventura. CSA is a relatively new movement in the United States starting in the mid-80’s. It is a farm program offering subscribers a weekly box of seasonal, fresh produce and a chance to have a direct connection to the food put on their table.

Four acres of the Rio Gozo Farm have been dedicated to this new venture. Farmer John Fonteyn is managing it and successfully delivered his first CSA shares to Ventura residents a couple of weeks ago.

John was born in Santa Barbara. As a young man he grew up in Santa Barbara, lived in Texas and northern California with his family. It was in San Francisco that he began a career cooking and working in catering. John says that “Growing up in San Francisco provided me the opportunity to eat the finest and most diverse cuisine in the U.S. but traveling forced me to live and eat outside my comfort zone. It was this experience that most profoundly impacted my long term vision for food culture. To make a long story short, I wanted to know food from the bed to the table. I reasoned that I could not access its full potential without both producing and preparing it myself.”

John had plenty of experience preparing and serving food while in San Francisco. When he relocated to Ojai about nines years ago he began producing food working in organic farming and food production. He ultimately landed at The Farmer and the Cook where he was the restaurant’s farm manager. John says that “ this is first year where I am solely responsible for the production of a 4 acre plot dedicated exclusively to the Ventura CSA. The learning curve is steep and I still seek Steve’s (Sprinkel) council on a regular basis.”

When asked what he likes best about the Ventura CSA program, he says it’s the members. When asked to elaborate, he says “I like people and one of the best ways to get to know them is to share a meal. By working together to co-produce a sustainable food system I believe we are shifting the dominant paradigm from one of consumption to one of communion. We’re looking forward to putting local food on your plate”.

For subscriptions to this new organic Community Supported Agriculture program for Ventura residents, contact John or Elizabeth at riogozofarm@gmail.com or call (805) 272-8170. The cost of the Ventura CSA share is $25 per week. There are about 7- 12 items in the share boxes and items vary according to season. Pick up is in downtown Ventura on the patio outside Bikram Yoga Studio on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Earth trine. Two separate words when combined have a special meaning. Earth is self explanatory. But what is trine?

The man behind the successful Earthtrine Farm, Robert “BD” Dautch, explained that trine refers to an aspect in astrology. As applied to one of the Ojai Valley’s most successful organic farms, it is the conjunction of the astrological signs for BD, his wife and his son. All three have “earth” signs. All in harmony with the earth.

In a lengthly article last year in Ventana Monthly, BD was called an “Organic Alchemist” who turned dirt into gold. Having toured his farm I can say he is that for sure. I see him more as a Renaissance Man with an important twist. Instead of helping to bring about a revival of art and literature, Dautch brings a revival of interest in small farming, as opposed to large corporate farming, with a focus on organics.

In talking with BD on his farm one can tell that he is one with his crops, the fields, and the earth under his feet. He is completely and literally “at home.” In addition to his passion as an organic farmer, BD is a family man. He has a son and two daughters at home and feels it is important to spend time with them before sending them off to school each morning. And, oh yeah, did I mention he is a Vegan?

Prior to 1974, when BD began his career in organic farming, he planted and attended to community gardens in Isla Vista. Today he farms two locations in Ojai: 10-acre and 3-acre organic farms near the Nordoff Cemetery. In addition, he farms five acres of organic produce in Carpinteria.

Although the majority of land on his farms supports oranges, he also grows an abundance of other fruits, vegetables and herbs. He not only harvests over 100 different varieties of produce throughout the year, he harvests and distributes edible weeds that sprout up naturally on the farm. The farm motto? “Go wild. Eat Weeds!” Naturally.

BD strives for a balance with nature and says that this is not always easy especially on an organic farm. When asked to elaborate he said “You can’t count on consistent weather. Inconsistent weather affects the timing on insect hatchings.” He implied that you have to be ever vigilant for insects that will eat the produce or kill the trees. “Work on a farm”, he said, “is never done.”

In sum, BD is a person of many talents including organic farmer, business man and family man. Look for him and his crew at the Ojai Certified Farmers Market each Sunday under the Earthtrine banner.

Why Garden Organically
By: John Ross, Rivenrock Rocks,  http://www.rivenrock.com

There are many people who garden organically for many different reasons. Chief among these are the various philosophical reasons such as a desire to live in harmony with the Earth. Living within one’s means so to speak, and attaining a balance in the garden.

I garden organically because of these reasons, and also because to me it seems easier ultimately. I grew up learning both organic and conventional methods, and have gradually switched over to wholly organic because when the soil is properly prepared and fed, it will in turn feed the plants in a way that will reduce insect and disease problems, and reduce weeding and watering chores. Every hour I spend mulching and composting probably saves me a couple hours of weeding and other work.

A properly compost amended soil will have good air and water penetration as well as good water retention. The high air flow within the soil will reduce rot and disease problems. But the high water retention will result in reduced watering chores as well as ensuring a steady supply of water to the plant when it needs more moisture.

How does compost perform this seemingly ‘too good to be true’ task? It all is due to the unique properties of compost, that is it’s high surface area. In short, water clings to the surface of soil particles such as clay and sand.

Clay particles are very thin wafer-like particles that stack like cards on a table. This is why clay soils are so hard to get wet, the water likes to roll off the surface, and has a hard time overcoming the soil chemical and physical resistance and sink into the soil. But once it becomes wet, it’s high surface area causes it to be resistant to drying, in addition it’s tight packing features cause the airflow between the particles to be nearly non-existent resulting in reduced drying by airflow. There is one benefit to the high water holding capacity of clay though, it means that the nutrients in the soil which are water soluble are not going to be taken away by water easily and transported beyond the reach of the roots.

A sand soil is very difficult to keep wet due to the fact that sand particles tend to be of a rounded or jagged shape, and they do not fit tightly together, this results in a smaller surface area that does not hold much moisture, also the loose soil texture causes massive amounts of air to flow between the particles, this airflow can wick much moisture from the soil particles. Sandy soils have the additional ability to loose moisture through them during periods of high irrigation and rainfall. This moisture going quickly through the soil and into the groundwater can take with it many of the soluble nutrients that were in the soil either naturally or by being added.

So there you have the major types of soil, sandy and clayey. Most soils are some extreme of one or the other, or a mixture to one degree or another of both. Now the big question is, how does compost make such a large change in either type of soil? Well, imagine a tiny piece of compost, residue of some type of animal or plant that has rotted to a great degree, this high carbon state of being results in a very porous material, it may have many many holes all through it, this feature gives it a very very high ration ot surface area to which water will cling, this means that compost can hold many times it’s own weight in water. Picture if you will, a sponge as the compost, oh yes, you can pour much water into a semi moist sponge, it’s open and cellulose structure makes it capable of absorbing much water.

Think if you will of the flat platelets of clay particles, laying flat on a table top. When water is poured over them it runs off the surface. Now if you took the sponge, tore it into many smaller pieces and lifted the clay particles and put pieces of the sponges between them you will have a surface physically lifted up and made more ‘fluffy’ and able to readily accept water. This lifting action will result in greater airflow and quicker water acceptance. Using this method the compost will ensure less water runoff and wastage, quicker water acceptance and greater airflow and reduced rot. The good benefits of clay are retained though, the soils will not tend to run water through it too fast to be absorbed, and digging compost in a shovel depth or two will not cause the water to run beyond the root area overly quickly taking vital nutrients.

The sandy soil is likewise helped by compost. Picture sandy soil as marbles in a bag, when water is poured into the bag it will quickly run through the marbles. The compost if pictured as a torn up sponge placed between marbles makes it easy to see how it would trap much water. The high surface area of the compost dug into the sand will trap much more of the soil moisture than would be trapped by the sand alone. Also the overly high airflow rates of the sandy soil is reduced by the compost wedging itself between the sandy particles. Water is retained by the compost along with many of the water soluble nutrients.

Now compost can do all these things and more, it can help to reduce weeding chores due to the fact that it loosens soil so well. When you pull on a small weed it will come out easier because the soil is loosened by the compost.
When you walk on the soil it will be a little less likely to pack down tightly because of the springy action of the sponge like compost.
The compost will cause a reduction in the amount of soil erosion. Clay soils will accept more moisture and reduce erosive run off. Sandy soils will be held a bit tighter together and cause a reduction in wind erosion.

So with all these benefits it is easy to see why an hour of composting saves several hours of other types of work