A New Look at an Old Field

Visiting a trio of farms in Ojai, I expected to find much of what I was used to: several acres of beautiful plantings, mature farmers living on property and maybe some rubber boots and overalls. Honestly, I should know by now not to go into anything with expectations. It seems that the local farmers I met don’t really fit the mold anymore.

Indeed, according to seasoned organic farmer Robert “BD” Dautch of Earthtrine Farm in Ojai, “The average age of farmers now is such that most get discounts at the movies so it is imperative that new young farmers join the ranks, even if they represent competition.” BD, 68, maintains that he is excited to see the influx. “I was one of them at one point. All those decades of experience must be shared.” Besides, who will fill the void if someday, way in the future, he wants to retire?

Long before it was popular, my mantra has been “know your farmer, know your food!” In this new era, I think this is not only more true than ever, but also easier to do. For each of the farms I visited, our connection was made via DM (direct message) on Instagram. Yes, social media. The youngest generation of farms is arriving on the scene complete with a burgeoning digital footprint that adds a new kind of community to the eco-topia that is Ojai.

What I found were people, passion, roots, causes and, perhaps, the future of farming. And the theme I saw? Smaller is better, relationship is key and food is still what connects us all.

EMILY AND TYLER STAALBERG

STEEL ACRES FARM

Steel Acres Farm was named for the Dutch last name of owners Emily and Tyler Staalberg, (which translates to Steel Mountains). After speaking with Emily, a petite, quiet farmer, I believe that “steel” is an accurate depiction of the level of determination that she has to make a good living by farming the two acres she and her husband began leasing in 2016 from Grace and Dan Malloy of Poco Farm in Meiners Oaks.

This mother of two—Florence, 3, and Quincy, almost 1—also carries a healthy dose of realism. Even as we spoke, she checked her cell phone for her mother-in-law’s text that said her younger daughter, Quincy, had finished her nap so Emily could go home to nurse.

“Ideally, we would live on the land we are farming, but we only live a mile and a half away. It takes us less than five minutes to get here,” says Emily, 34, over the noise of the tractor Tyler, 33, was running in the background.

“Tyler works for Patagonia remotely. I am full-time on the farm, but family comes first. Some days, there is a fraction of what needs to get done that actually gets done. I have just learned to be able to put [the work] down and realize that it is meant for another day.”

Emily’s openness and honesty are endearing. “It is hard being a first-generation farmer. Sometimes I feel lost in the world. Like, what am I trying to do? I don’t have the wisdom of the previous generations. Even if I think they did it wrong and I want to change things, I have nothing from them. We are learning by trial and error.”

So far, in the first two years, the Staalbergs got the farm certified organic through California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF), built a greenhouse, installed irrigation, leased a tractor, began raising pigs and figured out some systems that are working beautifully for increased seed germination—and had a baby.

Really, though, the vision for this farm started over five years before, when Grace and Emily met at an EcoFarm conference in Northern California.

Emily’s original life plan was to travel and then go into dietetics. Her desire was to connect with food to help facilitate healthy relationships with it. But then, she says, “when I was 22, I dove headfirst into living and working on a farm.” It was an organic farm in the San Diego area with a good reputation and reciprocity with the surrounding community.

There was this aha moment while I was thinning carrots alongside my peers. I realized that farming actually satisfies more than dietetics. I mean, learning the food pyramid for four years?” She shakes her head and smiles. “That was a big fork in the road. I traveled again and then came back and worked at two more farms.”

Then along came Grace, who by offering land, fertilized an idea that had already been growing: to start a business and put those skills and passion for good food to work. It took Emily and Tyler a year and a baby to begin thinking about it seriously, and then three solid months of ironing out all the details to make sure it was a good fit. “The family farm has to be so much more than good intention,” Emily says.

After 10 years of farming, Emily is finally comfortable calling herself a farmer, she says. “It’s because I have assumed all the risk for everything on the farm. Even though I have a love affair with eggplant, I can’t grow it anymore if I can’t do it economically. I have to time myself picking peppers because it has to pay for itself. If I don’t make it work, I have to change careers!”

For more info, visit SteelAcres.com. Steel Acres’ produce is used in Ventura by Paradise Pantry and Patagonia Café and in Ojai by Osteria Monte Grappa and the Ojai Unified School District school lunch program.

ANDRE RYDER

SOL Y MAR FARM

Andre looks like he belongs on the beach rather than on a farm field. He has the characteristic sun and sea bleached blond hair and the spring of youth in his step. Perhaps this is an advantage of being 21 and living just a quick jaunt from the ocean, where he still loves to surf, though he doesn’t get to go much these days.

But in farming youth has its disadvantages as well. While Andre has been farming on his own for just over a year, he struggled a few times to get buyers to take him seriously. “Ageism was super hard at the beginning,” he says with a nod and a shrug. “A lot of places would tell me to put my dad on the phone.” He laughs good naturedly as he points out the two-and-a-half acres of heavily laden citrus trees in the back of the property owned by his mother, Andrea Gleysteen.

“Last year I had 40,000 pounds of oranges to market that I had picked with my crew of two. … I always said, ‘Well, my dad doesn’t live here; he doesn’t farm, so I don’t know what you are going to talk to him about.’ One market thought I was stealing oranges when I would try to sell to them, but now I pretty much provide all of the oranges that they sell.”

With someone so young, you would think that he was born into farming, but Andre was a self-proclaimed wild child. In fact, his path into farming started late 2013. As a teen, he would ditch school to go surfing, passing Wiley Connell’s farm, Stoke Grove Farm in Meiners Oaks (now home to Steel Acres Farm), every day on the way to the beach.

Perhaps recognizing a kindred spirit, or at the very least a good healthy pair of hands, Wiley invited Andre in to work and the stage was set—or rather, a seed was planted. The love of the land, a natural progression for the naturalist child, bloomed and grew strong.

When Wiley left the country, Andre worked for a few local organic farms, picking up tips, ideals, mentors and inspiration. “Wiley was a really good mentor. He was, for lack of a better term, an ‘organic Nazi.’” It was in large part why Sol Y Mar is organic. “You can really only do what you know.”

Ojai in general has been good to Andre. “I think I met the right people around here, who have all been great mentors. If I ever get really stumped with a question, I’ll go to Steve Sprinkel and he’ll give me a poem or a little limerick and then tell me what I’m doing wrong,” he laughs. “He’s been really good to work with. He’s a great guy.”

Instead of using a packinghouse, Andre parcels the Valencia oranges out to local restaurants, markets and juice bars, which allows him to make a living even with such a small area of trees. “About a year ago, I did just about a quarter-acre of greens and salad production just to see if I could get any business and it went really well, so I have just been expanding off of that.”

In 2019, Sol Y Mar will grow much more variety. Andre’s goal is to be a one-stop shop at the farmers’ markets and build customer loyalty by having everything they might need in produce. He’s also thinking about buying some land in the future, maybe in Santa Paula. “The climate is a little milder for farming there.”

Find Andre’s Roasted Seasoned Cauliflower recipe at EdibleVenturaCounty.com.

For more info, visit Sol Y Mar Farm on Instagram (@SolYMarFarm). The produce is available at select Ventura County farmers’ markets and several Ojai restaurants.

ERIKA BLOCK FESER AND DANNY FESER

FESER COLD SPRINGS

Driving through acres of fire-blackened trees, following Erika Block Feser’s car deep into the mountains north of Ojai, I couldn’t help but wonder at the dedication of this couple who still live and work in Sherman Oaks, traveling out on the weekends to farm a property so far off the grid that it doesn’t even have a “real” address—just a mile marker on the Maricopa Highway. (There is a full-time caretaker on the property, which is not open to the public.)

Along the dirt road that marks the entrance of Feser Cold Springs, just past towering fresh-smelling conifers, sit rows and rows of old-growth apple trees, most of which are estimated to have been planted sometime in the 1950s and still produce fruit.

Erika, 39, and her husband, Danny, 48, who met selling flowers in the Los Angeles area, inherited use of the land from Danny’s father. He purchased the property, originally part of Hartman Ranch, in the late 1960s and gave it the family name.

As we get older, we often begin to seek out our roots. Danny’s desire to really connect with his grew when he saw the bridges to the past begin to slip away. “He had the idea one day that we needed to start coming up here and doing something with the place.” Erika tells me as we sit in the 1940s time capsule of a kitchen surrounded by a distinct smell of cedar from the unfinished wooden walls. “I would come up randomly with him, but I was always a little scared of it because there are so many snakes and stuff. Of course, now I am really used to it and I actually love it!”

In 2009, Danny began the process of planting trees and cleaning up the property. “It’s funny,” he says, “once I said, ‘I’m going to be the hero and come in and save everything!’ trees started falling; I started learning about diseases. Growing stuff is hard! We learn more every year.”

Like many in the Ojai farming community, Danny has found connection at a table in the back at The Farmer and The Cook. “People there are so friendly and helpful. I couldn’t do anything by myself. I needed to hear what those guys have to say.”

With a land situation that kind of fell into their laps, it seems like farming was almost a happy accident. In 2010, Erika and Danny picked a couple boxes of apples and decided to try to sell them. Every single box sold. And again. And again.

Their customer base kept growing, so Erika, familiar with flowers, decided to try to sell some of the lilacs that grew wild on the property. Those all sold as well. “From there, we planted tulips and a bunch of other flowers. And everything we grow we sell. So every year, we are growing more and more and more.”

Amazingly, much of the sense of community for Erika has come from an unusual source. “Through Instagram—we have met so many people in the Ojai community; they want us to do pop-ups with them—and word of mouth, like mentioning us when they buy our flowers.” There is a feeling of gratitude and belonging that fills her words.

While good luck and loyal customers have so far shaped the growth and sales for Feser Cold Springs, Erika and Danny plan to continue moving forward slowly, keeping things small enough to remain manageable and maybe, someday, eventually, making this farming thing a full-time gig.

For more info, visit Feser Cold Springs on Instagram (@fesercoldsprings). The fruit and flowers are available at select Los Angeles and Ventura County restaurants and retailers.