The lovely avocados in this week’s box are from our friends at Abounding Harvest Mountain Farm. We include fruit from their farm throughout the fall and winter months, so an introduction is in order. AMHF is located at 1,200 feet in the Santa Cruz Mountains, and is home to Daniel, Nancy and their children, Estelle and Sebastian.
Daniel and Nancy purchased their 20 acres in 2006 and have since been working hard and steadily to establish their orchard. They have 5 acres under certified organic cultivation and grow a diversity of tree fruit including the super tasty avocados you’ll be enjoying for the next several weeks, pomegranates, persimmons, kiwis, figs, olives, mulberries, and and lots of citrus, including an assortment of specialty varieties like Buddha Hand Citrons, Yuzus, and Australian Finger Limes.
Daniel, AHMF’s planter, pruner, weed wacker, mulch layer, irrigation specialist, harvester, packer, organic certification manager, and sales manager (yes, he’s a super busy guy), came to farming accidently. He needed a job after college and ended up working for Eliot Coleman (organic farming guru) on the Four Season Farm for three years. He found the work therapeutic and fulfilling. After leaving the Four Season Farm, he went on to do a bunch of different projects, including becoming a certified Kundalini Yoga instructor, and then a substance abuse counselor and research assistant at UCSF. Daniel and Nancy met at UCSF where Nancy served as faculty in the Department of Psychiatry.
Although Daniel found his work at UCSF rewarding, he missed farming and decided that his path was in agriculture. His work on the Four Season Farm was a good foundation, but Daniel felt he needed more training on the hows, whys, whens, and how muches of growing things, so he went on to UCSC’s Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems’ apprenticeship program for a 6 month intensive on the nuts and bolts of organic farming. During this time, Daniel and Nancy found their land. Marriage, deer fencing, irrigation lines, an orchard and their two children followed.Eight years after purchasing their land, they now have around 750 trees under cultivation. Daniel is grateful his wife “supported his farming habit” through the early years and is happy to report the farm has come into its own financially, now that their trees have matured.
Since Daniel is the farm’s only employee, he’s often found on the night shift, harvesting or fertilizing lemons at 2am with a head lamp. It’s business aspect of farming however, which he finds the most challenging about his occupation. We at Frog Hollow are very happy to help AHMF along their way by purchasing their fruits to be included in your CSA boxes. We think you will be too!
