We are food gardeners. We grow and raise some of our food, but none of us grow and raise it all. Who grows the rest of our food?
I’ll share where my family gets some of the rest of our food, and I’d appreciate it if you would share farms or sources you have that you’re pleased with.
I figure that the recommendations of other food gardeners are worth listening to. As food gardeners, we have a keener sense of what quality food is, we know how challenging it is to produce such food, and we know how valuable it is. On that last point, what I mean is that we don’t balk at a higher price for higher quality fuel for our bodies.
My family’s current sources
Milk and Dairy– Raw Farm, Fresno
We get our milk from Raw Farm via Sprouts markets. I’ve been drinking raw milk on and off for twenty years and exclusively for approximately the past ten. My whole family drinks the same.
We have bought our raw milk from a few other farms over the years, but mostly we buy from Raw Farm. We also get some other dairy products from Raw Farm. My wife loves their kefir.
Raw Farm is also called Raw Farm USA, and the farm was originally called Organic Pastures. The cows and dairy are located near Fresno in the Central Valley. We have driven by the farm on a couple of road trips but have not properly visited yet. I’m hoping to get the family there for a real tour soon. One thing I like about Raw Farm is that they offer tours.
Here is an interview with Mark McAfee, founder and CEO of Raw Farm. The interview introduces differences between raw (fresh) milk and pasteurized (cooked) milk, whether certified organic or not, and it provides some insight into the dairy industry in general.
Beef– Rancho Guejito, Escondido, San Diego County
For the last few years we have been pleased with the beef we have bought from Rancho Guejito, which raises cattle on pasture and is only five miles away from our home as the crow flies. We are lucky to have such a cattle ranch so close in Southern California.
I’ve toured the finger of Rancho Guejito that extends south to the San Pascual Valley but have not been to the upper reaches where the cattle are raised. As with Raw Farm, I’d like to get a full look at the ranching operation of Rancho Guejito someday so I have a better picture of where our beef is coming from.
Fruits and Vegetables– Eli’s Farms, Fallbrook, San Diego County
Whatever fruits and vegetables I don’t grow for the family I usually procure from Eli Hofshi and his family at Eli’s Farms. I visit their stand in Fallbrook, but they also deliver CSA boxes and sell at a few farmers markets in San Diego and Orange Counties.
It feels good to know your farmer. I have gotten to know Eli and his family over the past handful of years, I trust them to grow clean and nutritious food for my family, and I even feel a pull to come to their aid if ever the need arises.
A few springs ago they said they were having trouble finding workers so I insisted on helping to cut down weeds in one area of the farm, as they don’t use herbicides. I wanted it to be pure help with nothing in return, but they insisted on sending me home with a new avocado tree to say thanks. (They also run Subtropica Nurseries.)
Your turn
Who grows the rest of your food? Please help me and other Yard Posts readers by sharing any good farms or farmers that you get food from.
Do you have other good sources for milk, beef, fruits and vegetables. Do you have a good source for chicken, for fish, for grain, etc.?
Links to your growers and producers
Thanks for the great ideas! Here are links to some of the farms and providers you’ve mentioned in the comments below:
Rio Del Rey Heirloom Beans, Valley Center and beyond
Major Market, Escondido and Fallbrook
Yasukochi Family Farms, Oceanside
Lil Patch of Heaven, Ramona and all of San Diego County
O.B. People’s Food Co-op, Ocean Beach, San Diego
Jared’s Real Food, Lakeside, San Diego County
Primal Pastures, Murrieta and beyond
5 Bar Beef, Orange County and beyond
Co-opportunity Market, Santa Monica
Autonomy Farms, Bakersfield and beyond
Desi Milk, Modesto and beyond
FEED, Petaluma and SF Bay Area
I stop by Lil Patch of Heaven here in Ramona for all sorts of stuff. I believe they grow everything without pesticides or chemicals.
Cool idea! I intermittently get deliveries from Yasukochi family farms.
I’m in Sonoma (wine country in NorCal) and we’re lucky to have so many local farmers & producers. We get strawberries (and later blackberries) from a family run stand ~2 miles from our house – they pick each morning. The Friday farmer’s market includes a farm at the end of our road and is the most popular stand & they provide produce to many local restaurants too. There are a handful of great cattle ranches that raise pigs, goats, lamb too – Stemple Creek, Rossotti Ranch, True Grass Farms, Green Star Farm. Petaluma is just a few miles away and was the poultry capital for Sonoma County. Obviously poultry has taken a big hit lately. We belong to FEED Cooperative and get a weekly box sourced from local farms. We are spoiled with the variety of fruits & vegetables grown here. Cheese, olive oil, wine anyone??
Mariangela, I need to move to petaluma after reading your post. I get all my produce either from my own garden or from TJ’s or Costco.
I buy meat from Autonomy Farms (at the Santa Monica Farmers Market); most of my raw dairy from Raw Farm (raw A2 milk occasionally from Desi Milk and some some raw cheese from Organic Valley) (dairy bought at Co-Opportunity); and eggs usually from Lily’s (at the Santa Monica Farmers Market). I also have a lapsed membership in a raw food group that gets a lot of its meat, dairy, and eggs from Amish country. I get produce from Imperfect Produce, Mar Vista Farmers Market, and Co-Opportunity.
5barbeef.com…Grass fed/grass finished beef locally in Orange County. Frank is the man and very in tune with Mother Nature. He never uses vaccines or really does any human intervention on his cattle and he’s been doing it for 30+ years. I have a family of 6 and 1/2 a cow is perfect for a year (although my 4 boys are getting older and will soon increase that to a whole cow) Grass fed and finished beef is much healthier and worth the money. Frank offers tours too which are quite the experience. He uses his ranch locally in Orange County which is by Cooks Corner as well as a ranch up in Northern California when the grass dries up in Southern California. Greg you’re the man too!!
Wow I want to go tour! Thank you for this!
Greg, I don’t think I ever tried raw milk. How does it tastes differently from pasterized milk? Have you ever tried to grow a cherimoya tree? I recently tried the fruits and love it.
Hi Alice,
I don’t remember well. I haven’t drunk pasteurized milk for so long. But I don’t think it tastes much different.
The main things you might notice are that raw/fresh milk separates with the cream rising to the top so you need to shake it up. (Or if you’re my middle son, you don’t shake it and try to steal all the cream!).
And it goes sour much faster. This can take some getting used to. To manage this, either buy the milk in smaller containers or freeze it when it starts to sour. But I’ve grown to like the slightly sour stage so I just continue drinking.
I have grown so many small cherimoya trees but never to maturity. I always kill them somehow. I think it’s because I subconsciously don’t want a full tree of cherimoya fruit. I love to eat about three cherimoyas per year. They’re really good but they’re so sweet that I have a hard time eating many. Plus, I have friends with trees who generously share. If you ever need a source for cherimoya fruit, let me know and I’ll connect you.
P.S. Just the other day I noticed a baby cherimoya growing where I had eaten one in the yard last fall and spit out the seeds. Maybe I am destined to one day have a tree whether I want it or not.
Thanks for this terrific post…looks like some new sources of whole food near me!
Not to be alarmist, and I’m no expert, but LA Times just had an article that said “Scientists are warning consumers to stay away from raw milk, citing the “high viral load” of avian influenza in samples collected from infected cows — as well as a disturbing cluster of dead barn cats.”
Seems important to share this information alongside any suggestions of sources for raw milk.
Hi Matt,
I’m so glad folks are contributing. I’ve also already gotten a couple of new sources to check out.
Great post!
Ditto! Greg has created an entire encyclopedia of first-hand gardening experiences.
Here’s something I tried starting last year. I’ve been spraying the spring and fall flushes of my avocados with a dilute concentration of about a teaspoon of urea in 32 ounces of water. A higher concentration causes leaves to get tough grow weird but they live! And it wasn’t good for apples.
I keep doing it because I’m convinced nitrogen can get through the tender leaves during flush when they don’t have the waxy cuticle. I do it every day, washing off any extra first. Leaves are big and trees are happy. Urea is cheap. It’s not organic because the government knows best. If I were to distill about pure urea from manure, it would be kosher. Urea is cheap on Amazon.
Thanks for your commitment to community Greg!
Major’s Market in Escondido & Fallbrook stocks several brands of raw dairy products including milk & kefir from Raw Farm. This grocery store also sells local honey and San Diego County grown organic produce.
I buy chicken from Primal Pastures in Murrieta. They are a great group of farmers using Joel Salatin’s methods. Their chicken is truly pasture raised, corn and soy free.
http://www.obpeoplesfood.coop Ocean Beach People’s Food Coop
They also have an upstairs deli with delicious items & salad bar.
I’ve got to get back to the Santa Monica Co-op. It’s been a while. Looking for a beef source. Last one I used I wasn’t thrilled with. I’ll definitely check out 5Bar Beef. I like lily’s eggs too from the farmers market. Thanks for this.
I’m surprised when any adult drinks milk. I quit after 12 yrs old. Milk is beneficial for growing bodies but I worry that if there is any toxin in an environment it will end up in cows milk. And the central valley is about a very toxic a place because of all the years of commercial farming.
As for locally sourced food, I’m too busy to be able to attend farmers markets but appreciate all the input from folks. I’m lucky if I can make a trip to People’s.
I love going to Jared’s Real Food in Lakeside! He does a very convenient drive through so I don’t have to take napping kids out of the car. Jared grows the produce but also sources local dairy, honey, and a few other things to round out the groceries. Jared and his family take your order and hand you the produce they grew and harvested – nothing beats that! And they give free gardening advice 🙂 Believe he delivers to Ramona and other parts of north county. https://www.jaredsrealfood.com/
This farm, in Valley Center, is great for local heirloom beans. I adore beans–cheap, healthy, tasty. To get novel types from a local farmer is a treat.
https://riodelreyfarms.com/
Thanks, Rich. I’ve heard of this place. I will now order some of their beans to try.
The cool thing about buying beans is that you are buying food and seed at the same time. I can eat some and grow some.