Fogline Farm owners strive to create a past with a future

At 38-acre hillside Fogline Farm in Santa Cruz County, a group of young farmers are forging ahead to the past—back to the time when a wide range of food products were produced at a single farm.

Johnny Wilson and his partners have cleared enough aging fruit trees to make room for three acres of organic vegetables, and are preparing the ground for more vegetables. This still leaves 20 acres of fruit trees they farm. And they raise around 100 broiler chickens a week, have 500 egg layers and hope to bring their Berkshire pig operation up to 60 animals a year.

"We're trying to run an integrated farm. We run livestock and grow fruits and vegetables. We also rent a kitchen in town to make value-added products like jam and salsa. We raise pigs, broiler hens and egg layers," said Wilson to 150 farmers from around the country attending the Ecological Farming Conference farm tour. "The animals supply the manures for our compost. We use our pigs, broilers and egg layers to produce fertilizer for our vegetables."

The annual farm conference, now in its 32nd year, was held in early February at Asilomar.

Wilson and his partners say they are finding plenty of local customers for their farm-fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs and meat. Fogline's community-supported agriculture program has more than 50 subscribers, and the list of those hungry for a weekly box of Fogline Farm food continues to grow. An additional treat for customers is the animal protein.

"We do offer protein in every box, either a broiler or some pork sausage and a dozen eggs," said Wilson. Fogline's Berkshire pigs, a heritage variety, are particularly prized for their eating quality.

The farm also sells regularly at four Monterey Bay Area farmers markets and to local independent restaurants.

Fitting together all the pieces of this diverse operation is an ongoing process, Wilson said.

Many of the fruit trees on the property are past their prime production—ready to be removed and replaced by annual vegetable crops. And that change means learning new things about the capacity of the ground.

"As we take land out of permanent orchard crops and put it into more intensive annual crops, we have to learn what the land will carry," said Wilson.

Fogline partner Jeffrey Caspary said they are also considering planting squash in the rows between the trees in the orchard.

But the trickiest part of the operation is integrating the animals with the fruits and vegetables. The broiler chickens and Berkshire pigs graze on vegetable crop residue, cover crops and the grass in the orchard area. And this grazing must be managed to get maximum food for the animals and maximum nutrients for the crops, while maintaining food safety and protecting the land from overgrazing.

"We ran the pigs through an area with vegetable crop residue. It worked great, but you can't leave them in too long or they compact the soil. Running the broilers through the orchard, you can see how much greener the grass is where they've been. It's phenomenal how much fertility the chickens give you, while they are also an added source of revenue. We're still learning how many animals to put in an area, and for how long," Wilson said.

Fogline partner Caleb Barron said that California Certified Organic Farmers regulations require that pigs and chickens be out of an area where root vegetables or tomatoes are grown during the last 120 days before harvest. The animals also must not be in an area where vegetable crops closer to the ground—like lettuce or broccoli—are grown for the last 90 days before harvest.

"A lot of local officials at farmers markets or health departments don't know what the regulations are. To make sausage, you need a kitchen that is county inspected but to make salami, you need state certification of your kitchen. You can only slaughter pork in a USDA-certified slaughterhouse," Wilson said.

Wilson and his partners slaughter the broiler chickens on site at a facility inspected by the local health department. They can slaughter and dress out chickens on the farm in a county health department-inspected facility if they sell directly to the public and have fewer than 5,000 chickens a year.

But there is no USDA-certified slaughterhouse in the greater Monterey Bay Area.

"One of the reasons you don't see a lot of pasture-raised animals around here is the closest USDA-inspected slaughterhouse is two-and-a-half hours away in Modesto," Wilson said.

To slaughter their pigs, they must drive the animals to Modesto and then drive back the next day for their meat.

"You're kind of pioneering that effort around here. It's kind of a challenge being the first one on the block," said Amigo Cantisano, the principal partner of Organic Farm Advisors, a producer of olive oil in the Sierra foothills, and the leader of the farm tour.

The Fogline Farm property has been farmed continuously since 1906, when fruit trees were planted after the land had been logged.

Bruce Manildi, born on the property 72 years ago, farmed it until just a few years ago. Then he decided it was time to retire from farming.

With the help of nonprofit group California FarmLink as matchmaker, Manildi and Fogline Farm's Wilson found each other. California FarmLink brings together retiring farmers who are looking to rent, lease or sell their land with young people who have learned enough about farming to want to strike out on their own.

(Bob Johnson is a reporter in Magalia. He may be contacted at bjohn11135@aol.com.)