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Among the list of essential services from first responders, doctors and nurses, there is another subset that is imperative to keep going, and that is our local farmers and ranchers. 

Fully stocked at Something Good Organics near Buellton.
Photo contributed

Farmers markets are scarce with people afraid to venture into public, which is a large source of revenue for a lot of farmers like Carolyn Givens of Something Good Organics on Santa Rosa Road just outside Buellton. 

“Our outlet via farmers market which we rely heavily on has decreased dramatically,” Givens said. 

However even with decreased farmers market sales, Givens said she is grateful as their farm stand, and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes and wholesale to grocery stores has increased. 

“It’s been almost too much to manage, but we are so thankful,” she added. 

Finley Farms in Santa Ynez has also said because of their diverse farm they are also staying afloat. 

“While farmers markets and wholesale are scare, our farm stand is busier than usual as everyone is home and cooking more,” Johanna Finley said. 

She suspects because their farm stand is open air and sold directly to the consumer, her customers feel a bit safer than entering a grocery store. 

“We encourage hand washing and trying to do more Venmo as people then don’t have to handle cash. We notice that customers are being extremely respectful of one another and grateful for our produce. We are grateful for these customers,” Finley said.

Their spring produce from strawberries, peas and potatoes are nearly in season and they are looking forward to those items being available. 

Some farmers like Ed Seaman at Santa Barbara Blueberries are looking ahead to modify their U-pick process as they are uncertain how long the social distancing and stay at home orders will last. 

Santa Barbara Blueberries owner Ed Seaman said this rain season has dropped more than 25 inches on the farm south of Buellton, which will benefit his crops for several years.

“We are directly off the 101 and we rely heavily on tourism traffic,” Seaman said. “We also don’t know what tourism will look like in a month or two from now as people will be recovering from the economic impacts of being laid off or furloughed.” 

His farm is only open for select weeks of the year because blueberries ripen for only so long, and then late season berries like raspberries and blackberries are more towards the end of summer. 

“The year-round crop farmers I think will survive this just fine, but what about us seasonal crop farmers,” Seaman said. 

He said there are ideas for a pick-up or drive-thru, where people can preorder online and then drive around the farm store and the sellers can hand over prepicked blueberries and other goods. 

“We are also thinking of setting up social distancing picking areas and cordoning off six-foot sections,” Seaman said, laughing. “We have 18 acres so we can technically fit 7,360 people on the farm.”

Seaman said they have already practiced good sanitary behaviors from wiping buckets down after each use and they are going to put out more tables (with distance) and have more hand-washing stations available. 

Seaman said they are applying for every program and grant they can think of during this time as well. 

The Payment Protection Program is available to farmers and ranchers regardless of revenue, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation. The PPPL provides $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses to pay employees and keep them on the payroll. These loans are open to most businesses under 500 employees, including nonprofits, the self-employed, startups and cooperatives.

The PPPL will provide to eligible businesses loans of up to $10 million to cover 2.5 times the average monthly payroll costs, measured over the 12 months preceding the loan origination date, plus an additional 25 percent for non-payroll costs. 

For more information visit https://www.fb.org/market-intel/update-ag-and-pppl. 

“Empty shelves can be frightening, but empty fields and barns would be devastating,” said Zippy Duvall, president of the American Farm Bureau Federation. 

The post Local farmers, ranchers see shift in produce buyers during COVID-19 appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

Something Good Organics

Lately I have been studying in depth about how our gut bacteria affect our health. I’m amazed at how our gut microbiomes can change for the better when we feed the healthy bacteria in our systems.

A diet heavy with fruits and vegetables can be a great benefit to your overall health. Raspberries, dandelion greens, onions, leeks, apples, broccoli: They’re all high in fiber, which benefits your gut bacteria as well. And best of all, you’re not eating too much processed food, which feeds unhealthy bacteria and can cause health problems.

As well as eating healthy, it’s important to vary your vegetable diet. We can get in the habit of eating the exact same vegetables every day – carrot sticks in lunch, for instance, or spinach in a smoothie. That’s not a bad thing at all! But we can do better. Challenge yourself to “eat the rainbow.” Branch out into different vegetables. Maybe even one you’ve never tried!

You might think that because it’s winter, that there is nothing going on here at the Something Good Organics farm. We closed for Christmas vacation, it’s true, but moving into the new year, we have so many delicious vegetables to eat. Our farm stand fridge is full of luscious salad greens, beets, kale, broccoli, the sweetest carrots and more. We even have tomatoes lingering around.

If you want help and inspiration, consider joining a CSA (community-supported agriculture) program and let the farm inspire you to eat what’s freshest in season. Many of our CSA clients have been coming back and telling us that our celery is the best they have ever tasted.

Did you know that celery juice is a new trend in health food? If you want to jump on the bandwagon, drink 16 ounces of celery juice first thing in the morning (before eating breakfast). Juice can supplement a healthy diet by adding hydration, concentrated vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants to your diet. (Make sure you’re juicing organic foods, so you don’t end up drinking concentrated pesticides.) We’ve got you covered at the stand, if you decide to try it for yourself.

So don’t wait until the beginning of a new year, a new week or a new day to start incorporating more local vegetables into your life. Start small and you body will keep coming back for more. With so much amazing local, organic agriculture at your fingertips that’s grown all year round, we can truly dive into the deep end of optimal health.

Carolyn Givens operates Something Good Organics, a CSA program and a farm stand on the corner of Santa Rosa Road. Send email to carolyn@somethinggoodorganics.com for more information.

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Contributed

The growing cycle continues here at the farm with the most productive season of the year – summer. Though the hills are hot and dry, farmers must get the most use out of limited water and unlimited sunshine, because each plant needs some of both.

At this time of year you can almost see the plants growing. From one day to the next, they sprout flowers and vines. Bees crawl busily from one flower to the next, doing their vital job of pollination. Squashes and melons get plump on the vine, and tomatoes turn overnight from hard green balls to tender ripe fruit.

At Something Good Organics, our fields are thick with leaves and stalks and canes, and the hawks are circling overhead, looking for their next breakfast. Our open space and growing practices provide a safe space for birds, bees, deer and lots of other species.

Because of the quick growth and high production, our workers ramp up their efforts to seven days a week in the summer. Farm workers are the backbone of the farming industry. Without them, your produce would be much more expensive, or would simply sit in the field. Farm workers pick in every kind of weather, rain or shine, doing every kind of work from hand-seeding the vegetables to putting up fences and greenhouses, to picking and washing and boxing every vegetable. I have never encountered anyone who works as hard as they do.

All of our effort and care culminates in, of course, selling fruit and vegetables to the consumer. We want everyone to come to the farmers markets and farm stands and try to taste the difference between freshly picked organic produce and the produce at the grocery store.

If you can’t make it to the market, we deliver with our CSA (community-supported agriculture) program that brings a box of seasonal produce right to your door.

Right now, for example, we have sweet bell peppers, raspberries and blackberries, stone fruit, green beans, eggplant, cucumbers, and tomatoes. And very soon it will be one of the best times of the year – melon time.

Our farm stand in Buellton is right across the street from Mosby Winery at 9499 Santa Rosa Road. It’s open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday, rain or shine.

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Agriculture, the largest industry in Santa Barbara County, contributes $2.8 billion to the local economy and provides more than 25,000 jobs.

The Santa Ynez Valley has a temperate climate and many micro-climates that support and sustain everything from oranges, lemons, limes and exotic varietals such as dragon fruit to the traditional lettuces, squashes, melons, flowers and more.

Here is a list of farm stands where people can pick up fresh local produce and simultaneously support local farmers and ranchers.

Clairmont Lavender Farm: 2480 Roblar Ave. in Los Olivos; open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day but Tuesday.

The farm has five acres of the Grosso variety of lavender, known for its healing qualities. The fields are breathtakingly beautiful with a backdrop of the Santa Ynez Mountains and 300-year-old oak trees dotting the grounds. Filmmakers, photographers and painters arrive each year to apply their craft.

The driveway is lined with olive trees that were planted by the Spanish missionaries. The farm is entirely organic. They harvest with the traditional method of cutting each plant by hand, banding, and hanging the bunches, and also with a hand-held hedge clipper.

Farmer’s Market: First Street and Copenhagen Drive, Solvang.

The Solvang Farmer’s Market takes place from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons year-round. It’s a one-stop shop for locally grown vegetables, fruits, cheeses, meats, flowers, jam, hummus, flowers and more.

Finley Farms: 1702 N. Refugio Road in Santa Ynez.

Finley Farms supplies its own produce to local businesses and has a farm stand open most of the year. In addition, they also sell their fresh food at local farmer’s markets, including the Solvang farmer’s market on Wednesdays.

Their selections vary based on the season. In April and May, you can expect lots of leafy greens like spinach, lettuces, beets, carrots, turnips, strawberries, and much more. This time of year, you can find all of that and more, including raspberries, tomatoes, zucchini and basil.

In August, September, and October, their produce list includes cantaloupe, winter squash, pumpkins, gourds, and much more. They also sell field flowers all year.

Folded Hills Farmstead: Between Buellton and Santa Barbara on Highway 101; open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. April to October.

The farm has a wide variety of vegetables, including multiple types of lettuce, carrots, broccoli, beets, asparagus, chard, fava beans, dill, and multiple cabbages and squashes. Additionally, Farmstead has multiple fruits available, including lemons, tangerines, grapefruits and strawberries. Homemade baked goods are also available in the Farmstead shop.

Global Gardens: 2450 Alamo Pintado Road; Open every Thursday – Monday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

This olive farm stand is on a 3-acre mini farm, at the junction between Los Olivos and Solvang. Get an education on all things extra virgin, purchase fresh, home-grown Extra Virgin Olive Oils, Balsamic Fruit Vinegars, Spice Blends, Olives, Mustards, Spreads, Organic Snacks, and Beauty Products made with their own olive oil. Talk with a real farmer and get the real dirt on food issues, like organics and GMOs.

Rancho Olivos

Rancho Olivos: 2390 Refugio Road; Monday – Thursday 12 – 4 p.m., Fri. – Sun 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. 805-686-9653

They offer complimentary olive oil tastings of their award winning olive oils. They have five varietals of olive trees and complimentary pets of their ranch dogs that hang out at the tasting area. Find them online at www.ranchoolivos.com.

Santa Barbara Blueberries: At 1980 Highway 101 south of Buellton, this farm sells blueberries daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. as long as there are berries to be picked. Visitors can also find honey, jam, and other products from the farm in its Blueberry Hut.

Something Good! Organics Farm Stand: At 9499 Santa Rosa Road, this Buellton farm stand offers freshly picked organic produce every Thursday – Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Something Good also offers a weekly CSA (community-supported agriculture) box by subscription.

Summerset Farm: Highway 154 and Edison Street in Santa Ynez; opens at 9 a.m. daily.

This little farm plays a multitude of roles depending on the season. During the fall, it serves as a popular pumpkin patch. Other times, such as during the summer, it is a produce stand where shoppers are welcome to pick their own strawberries and raspberries. Peaches, squashes and onions are also available.

Summerset Farm is also part of Dale’s Nursery, which sells trees, shrubs and perennials.

The post Summer is the season for fresh food appeared first on Santa Ynez Valley Star.

Contributing Writer

It’s almost here! The season of growing, the time when the energy of earth is harnessed to push seedlings up and out into the sunlight so that all the tastiest tender fruits and vegetables can find their places at our tables.

Now is the time for all those vegetables you’ve been missing all winter. We will till all the cover crops under and begin planting zucchini, cucumbers, strawberries and tomatoes. The raspberry and blackberry bushes will begin blooming, and the brown canes will be covered in white flowers.

In our animal enclosures, we have some new arrivals. Our mama pig was pregnant for about 3 1/2 months, and she gave birth to nine adorable piglets. They will nurse for up to eight weeks and then wean from their mom. We also expect to see some chicks pecking around with their moms and dads in the chicken enclosure. More chickens equal more eggs! We sell freshly laid eggs all summer from our free-roaming happy hens.

Springtime means that our sugar snap peas will be available at our farm stands and markets very soon. Sugar snap peas are the candy of the vegetable world. You eat them, shell and all, right out of the bag. Kids love them, and grownups do too. Besides being a great low-calorie snack, sugar snaps also contain lots of iron, as well as vitamins C, A, and K.

A lot of people ask us why sugar snaps are so expensive. The reason is that they are ‘artisan’ – like those handmade pickles from Brooklyn. The farm workers pound rows and rows of stakes in the ground. Between each stake, they put up three long horizontal lengths of twine. The twine stretches all the way down the field. The pea seedlings are hand planted at the bottom of the stakes, and the vines use the twine to help them climb. Eventually, it looks like a green vine-wall covered with flowers, and then the flowers turn into snap pods. The snap pea plants are hand-weeded, and when the pods are ready, each snap pea is harvested by hand. There is no such thing on our farm as a snap-pea-harvesting robot.

When you come to the market, the peas you buy have been picked the day before. They are fresh and delicious and so it really isn’t necessary to cook them. You can throw them in at the end of a stir-fry – and believe it or not, there is such a thing as snap pea ice cream, if you have an ice cream maker.

But we prefer to either cut them up for salad or simply eat them raw. Their crunchy goodness and ‘green’ taste will be the essence of spring.

Carolyn Givens operates Something Good Organics, a CSA program, and a farm stand on Santa Rosa Road. Email her at carolyn@somethinggoodorganics.com for more information.

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Contributing Writer

This time of year, our minds are on beginnings and endings and the cycle of the new year. Here on the farm, the fields are lying fallow, gathering nutrients and waiting for rain.

Water is so precious that we can’t plant cover crops without it, so everything is holding its breath and hoping for precipitation. You are likely to find us doing a rain dance on the farm and watching the sky anxiously.

However, the citrus trees got their water earlier in the year, so be on the lookout for oranges, lemons, and – best of all – tangerines.

Citrus fruits supply calcium, potassium, fiber, folates, and vitamins A and C. There’s no reason not to eat one! Lemon and lime slices are great in a glass of water and help alkalize the body; oranges can be cut up and put in your salad; and you can buy grapefruits that are so sweet that they don’t need any extra sugar. Thank you, California.

In the new year, we always want to stop chowing down on all the holiday treats and start eating “right” again. Of course, what’s right for you is something you have to decide. We believe eating “right” means feeding your body the correct nutrients it needs to maintain a healthy weight and feel good every day.  Some people start small, just changing one little habit, and some people go for the juice cleanse to jumpstart their New Year’s resolution.

We’re not here to nag – and we’re not against a good juice cleanse – but we know everyone is busy, the kids are underfoot, and dinner has to get made. You could start by just adding vegetables to dinner and lunch and, hey, did you ever think about breakfast?

Adding vegetables to your breakfast sets a great tone to your day and can lead to fewer cravings later in the afternoon. If you have a juicer, you could put together a Grapefruit Green juice (1 grapefruit, 1 green apple, a bunch of kale, 4 celery stalks, half a cucumber, and 1 lime) to have with your morning routine.

You can use a butternut squash for so many things, even a breakfast hash. Peel it and chop it into cubes, then fry up some slices of bacon in a large pan. Remove the bacon from the pan, add some chopped onion, and sauté.

Then add enough squash to cover the bottom of the pan, some chopped apple, a teaspoon of salt, and a splash or two of maple syrup. Cover the pan and cook until the squash is tender.

Then you can add chopped spinach or kale and fry an egg on the side of the pan and add it to the top. Then add the crumbled bacon from earlier. (If you can’t or don’t eat bacon, leave it off, and substitute some coconut oil for the bacon grease.)

Happy New Year!

Carolyn Givens operates Something Good Organics, a community-supported agricultural program, and a Thursday-Sunday farm stand on the corner of Santa Rosa Road. Contact her at carolyn@somethinggoodorganics.com.

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