Ellwood Canyon Farms

Jack’s Story: I grew up in Brawley, California, located in the Imperial Valley, in a fourth generation farming family. As a boy farming wasn’t the plan, all I wanted was to… Read Ellwood Canyon Farms' full profile here.

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Winter is here

December 17th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Fall is an interesting time of year on the farm, days are getting shorter, weather is getting colder and much of the summer life and bounty is slowly coming to an end. I have been balancing my time between cleaning up the summer production area, planting, caring for, and harvesting off a new area where I have winter crops, selling these crops at markets, and getting cover crops in the ground in areas that I will be planting this spring. After a big push this last week I feel I am finally catching up and ready for winter.

Currently in the field I have one section (about 1/5 acre) planted with a diversity cool weather vegetables including lettuces, swiss chards, kales, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, radishes, turnips, green onions, and fennel. This is what I will be taking to market the next couple months.

I added to my perennial herb and flower section, a small area bordering my field, with more sage, thyme, rosemary, sweet alyssum and some lavenders. My goal is to slowly add plants to this section over time and have it be a “pick your own” herb and flower garden for CSA members. I choose plants that are good for cut flowers, fresh and dry herbs as well as beneficial insect attractors and just plain old beauty.[nggallery id=242]

I have also been planting some bigger sections of stuff that I will harvest starting this spring and throughout next summer, including a block of strawberries (2500 plants), a block of garlic (5 150’ beds), a block of artichoke (about 1/5 of an acre), a block of onions (about 6,000 plants), and a block of peas and fava beans (about a 1/5 of an acre).[nggallery id=243]

Everything mentioned above takes up about half of my two acre field. The other half I have seeded with a cover crop mix that I will let grow through late February then till under and plant my first spring vegetables….the cycle continues…..enjoy…[nggallery id=244]

Tags: cover crops, garlic, peas, strawberries, fava beans

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CSA complete

October 31st, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Ellwood Canyon Farms final day of CSA was last Monday. We had a great season and I feel that everyone was pleased with the produce and experience they received as CSA members. A big part of me is glad to be done with the intense commitment that CSA farming requires but an even bigger part of me is sad its over and already misses it. It was stressful at times and required long hours of hard work to consistently provide my members with food every week, but it was worth every second to experience Monday evenings when I waited down at the farm and personally handed each member their food. There was a real connection made between myself, the members and the food. The kind of connection that is missing in most aspects of society these days. I grew up in a strong community and to be able to contribute in a positive way to the community that I am now a part of is a big honor. I look forward to next year’s CSA and have already begun to plan for it.

I hosted a year end CSA membership appreciation potluck bbq a couple weeks back. It was an amazing evening. I set up two huge grills and a long line of tables and chairs right in the middle of the field. Everyone brought something to grill or a salad etc.. and we enjoyed the evening on the farm. We gave tractor rides touring the property, had music playing and allowed everyone to walk the fields and really see where all their food was grown. I also had some other local farmers come down and enjoy the evening which I think was very special. I plan on doing more of this next season as I feel this is the kind of thing that CSA farms are all about. Heres of couple photos of the evening. Enjoy…

Tags: CSA

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1000 Foot Perspective

August 17th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

When trying to understand different weather patterns and the effect they have on different micro-climates it is always helpful to get the 1000 foot perspective…...Ellwood Canyon Farms is located in the mouth of a canyon running off a southern facing coastal mountain range. I did some exploring this weekend and found my way to the top of the canyon looking back at the coast. Directly behind the farm is 70 acres of certified organic farm ground, not in production…. Behind that are… Read the rest of this article »

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Making hay while the sun shines….

August 3rd, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

This summer has been flying by, I can hardly believe its already August. With my schedule these days I hardly have time to think, I guess its like my dad says….“you gotta make hay while the sun shines”. Well I’ve had my head down and hands in the dirt making as much hay as possible. Here is a breakdown of my weekly schedule the last month and this is what it will be through October when I end the CSA. Monday is CSA day where I am harvesting from 6am - 2 getting… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: CSA, farmer's market, Farm Financials

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Grandpa

July 14th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Things are really picking up here at Ellwood Canyon Farms. After over a month of cool wet foggy June gloom weather the sun has finally started to show its face. This means happy tomatoes and bountiful harvests, just in time too because I found out last week I was accepted into 2 more markets. I now do Wednesday in Santa Barbara, Thursday in Goleta, and Friday in Montecito. A lot of time away from the farm but I am pleased to have more markets to sell my produce. The CSA has… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: CSA, farmer's market

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Potatoes

June 27th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

I planted some potatoes this weekend that I’m pretty excited about. Did four different varieties, 200 feet of each, purple, yellow, german, and fingerling. I borrowed an old cultivating tractor from another farmer Shawn Mchamon of Out of Step Farms. I used it to dig the trenches and then cover the potatoes. I will also use it to cultivate and hill the potatoes as they begin to grow. A big thanks to Shawn, the tractor is a tremendous help. Summer is here and the tomatoes… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: potatoes, tomatoes, sunflowers

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CSA and Honest Man Stand

June 15th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

CSA has been going good, I currently have 17 members for June and my goal is to have 2o for July. The shares have been looking good and I hope that members are enjoying the produce. Here are photos of the last two weeks of CSA boxes: I also debuted an on farm honor system produce stand last weekend. I share the stand with fellow farmers Miguel Iniguez of Ebby’s organics and Shawn Mcahon of Out of Step Farms. Miguel has been farming organic vegetables in the area for… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: CSA, farmer's market

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field photos

June 5th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Everything going good here at Ellwood Canyon. Been busy but did find time to snap a couple photos and gonna leave the talking to them this week….. enjoy. Field shots: Close ups: [nggallery id=199] Read the rest of this article »

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Ellwood Farming

May 20th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

I figured since I bored you with the financials I better talk about the farming side of stuff and include some photos so here we go. As I get further into the season I am starting to form a basic weekly schedule…. Monday from 6:00 - 2:30 harvesting for the CSA which picks up at the farm that evening. Tuesday is a field day meaning I focus on spending long hours weeding, planting, watering, pest control and feeding etc.. Wednesday is harvest from 6:00 -12:00 then market… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: CSA, gophers, tomatoes, flame weeding

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Ellwood Financials

May 20th, 2010
Ellwood Canyon Farms | Blog

Here is a snapshot/estimate of my monthly expenses and income for May. Many of the expense items I order in bulk at the beginning of the season so I divided by 12 to get a monthly average. Expenses: Rent: $200 Water: $35 (this number will increase as we get deeper into our summer weather pattern) Bathroom: $30 ( I split the cost of a port a potty with other tenants on the property) Electricity: $50 (I share a shipping container cooled by an ac unit that runs off electricity.) Seeds/transplants:… Read the rest of this article »

Tags: Farm Financials

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Jack Motter

Ellwood Canyon Farms
Goleta, CA

Farm Acreage: 2

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