would be foolish for a family farm to enter the conventional market. “My dad had 3,400 bacon avocado trees, but they have thin skin and don’t ship well,” Churchill recalled. “Phytophthora hit the avocados and I didn’t want to grow Valencia oranges for Sunkist. It dawned on me I could grow tangerines.” He chose Pixie tangerines, a variety that came out of a University of California, Riverside, breeding program in the 1960s. “I didn’t know they were seedless, peeled easily and stayed on the trees late,” Churchill said. “I knew it tasted good and decided I was going to grow tangerines.” Churchill had a similar stroke of good fortune when he decided to expand to another tangerine variety. “I visited the University of California, Riverside, citrus collection and asked what the best fruit was,” he said. “I was told the graduate students like the seedless Kishus. I figured they were getting Ph.D.s in citrus, so that was our market research.” The tangerine business has made it possible for Churchill to stay on the land his father used for avocados and a little citrus. “I grew up playing in the orchard,” he said. “I threw citrus at cars, had fights with my friends.” Successes Continued from Page 11
Farm crews harvest fresh leafy greens at Rancho Wayside farm of the Hollister-based Jayleaf firm, founded by Jose Ornelas. His and other organic success stories were featured at the EcoFarm Conference at Asilomar.
Three decades after he began selling Pixie tangerines at a farmers market in Berkeley, Churchill reflected on what it means to be successful. “Being a successful organic farmer means I get to keep doing what I do,” he said. “I think it’s important that you like what you do; you’re going to be doing it a lot.” Another organics success story fea- tured at the conference was that of Kristyn Leach. When starting out on a small plot in Solano County, she sought
the advice of Korean-American farmers in the community. “The older Korean farmers said, ‘You need to be able to feed your family and your community,’” she recalled. Leach started by growing Korean herbs, and she took samples to show the Lee brothers, who operate Namu Stonepot, a Korean restaurant in San Francisco. “They contracted with me to grow chili peppers,” Leach said. “The Lee brothers loaned me $5,000 to get started, which was the most money anybody had
ever trusted me with.” That’s how the 4-acre Namu Farms was born. Since 2001, it has produced herbs, vegetables and fruits, and promot- ed seed saving. Leach credited sustainable farming practices as “a driving force” on her farm. “With reduced tillage,” she said, “ev- erything is happening out of sight below the ground.” (Bob Johnson is a reporter in Monterey County. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@gmail.com.)
12 Ag Alert February 15, 2023
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