Slow Life with Real Food
Eating and living mindfully by the beach
13 Sep Thu 2007
Fairview Gardens
Fairview Gardens, established in 1997 by Michael Ableman, is a non-profit organization located in Goleta, California. It is a twelve and a half acre farm smack-dab in the middle of suburbia, neighboring a WellsFargo Bank and Rite-Aid Pharmacy. Originally it was created to preserve the land and grow nourishing food, but has since become a huge success and an integral part of the community. On the farm, they produce over one hundred varieties of vegetables and fruits, and they educate others through tours, consultations, gardening and cooking classes, internships, workshops, and more.As soon as we pulled up to the farm stand, the success of this particular farm was evident. There were people stopping by to pick out their fresh produce as naturally as they were going to the grocery store. They seemed like 'regulars', and there were many of them in the just the short amount of time that we spent there. In fact, our guide and farm manager, Linda Halley, informed us that there is a waiting list of 60 people for the CSA. She gave us a tour of the farm, which is maintained by a ten-person crew, and shared with us her secret method for washing eggs (a faulty dishwasher!).
Charm is written all over this farm, from the colorful farm stand, to the bee hive in the chimney, to the slanting old farm house, to the smiles on the interns' faces. Every living thing on this farm looks happy and healthy, even the newly-adopted rooster, Al (picture attached). This is what a successful farm looks like. For any of you farmers out there who are interested in a little change, and have experience managing a small crew, check out the job posting in the 'forum' section of LocalHarvest.
Check out our photos of Fairview Gardens
Amber_2
09:00 PM PDT
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