Sizing Up Organics: A Brentwood Farm Tour
In August 2012, CUESA led a tour of two respected Brentwood farms to learn the ins and outs of organic production. First we visited Frog Hollow Farm, where Farmer Al showed us his stone fruit orchards, which have expanded from 13 to more than 140 acres in the past 30 years. Next, we visited Knoll Farms, where Kristie Knoll told us how organic practices at work on a smaller scale.
Our first stop in Brentwood was Frog Hollow Farm, where Al Courchesne, or “Farmer Al,” as he likes to be called, has been farming since 1976. He started growing peaches on a 13-acre parcel in Brentwood and, over the years, he has acquired an additional 130 acres. The farm became certified organic by CCOF in 1989.
Photo by Barry Jan.
A fixture at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market since its early days, Frog Hollow is widely known for its intensely sweet stone fruit. In addition to peaches (the farm’s signature is the Cal Red), Frog Hollow grows apricots, nectarines, cherries, pears, apples, and other fruit. They also have a shop in the Ferry Building, where they sell their fruit (fresh and dried) as well as preserves and pastries designed by Al's wife Rebecca, a pastry chef.
Because Frog Hollow sells direct to consumers at the farmers market and through a CSA program, they are able to leave fruit on the tree longer than when it is picked for retail markets. Havesting when it is fully ripe means “you get more sugar, more flavor, more juice, and a better eating experience,” said Al. He boasted that most of Frog Hollow’s fruit measures 14 to 16 on the Brix scale of sweetness, while other farms’ fruit is in the low teens. Their Cal Red peaches measure as high as 23 Brix units.
Frog Hollow has created many channels to sell their fruit and minimize waste. Fruit that is too ripe to sell is dried or used for jams and pastries. Al estimates that 90 percent of the farm's fruit is either sold fresh or made into value-added products, leaving only 10 percent left for the compost.
Photo by Linda Liang.
Because it so ripe, the fruit that is dried is at the peak of sweetness. Frog Hollow produces about 10,000 pounds of dried fruit every year. It takes seven pounds of fresh fruit to yield one pound dried. All fruit is dried in the sun without the use of sulfur dioxide. The tag on each drying rack indicates the variety, date the fruit was picked, and name of the worker who harvested it.
Farmer Al showed us his native bee gardens, which were planted on the farm in 2011 as part of a 10-year study led by UC Berkeley entomologist Dr. Gordon Frankie. The flowers attract and nurture honeybees and native pollinators, which have been in decline in the United States.
Photo by Barry Jan.
“What I love about the bee gardens is their beauty,” said Farmer Al.
Photo by Barry Jan.
The farm also works with local beekeepers who keep their hives on the property to help pollinate the fruit trees.
Photo by Linda Liang.
As a certified organic farm, Frog Hollow must find creative ways to contend with many pests, such as earwigs, gophers, and fungal diseases like brown rot. Farmer Al showed us a peach tree leaf that had been attacked by spider mites, which thrive in hot and dusty conditions. The mites do not disturb the fruit, but they suck the sap out of the leaves and can decimate a tree within a month.
Photo by Barry Jan.
While conventional farmers use miticides to kill spider mites, Frog Hollow prevents infestations of these tiny pests by spraying a solution of magnesium chloride (a type of salt) on the farm’s roads early in the season to minimize dust.
Photo by Linda Liang.
Other menaces includes gophers, which munch on the roots of fruit trees, and squirrels, which go for the tree shoots. In addition to using gopher traps, Al has has one of his workers, a professionally trained hunter named Miguel, keep rodent populations in check using a shotgun. Miguel leaves the casualties (along with the shotgun shells) on the road for the coyotes to clean up at night.
As an organic alternative to synthetic pesticides, the farm uses pheromone disruption baits to confuse and inhibit reproduction of pests like the peach tree borer and the Oriental fruit moth. Al says that even nonorganic neighboring farms use these baits because they are so effective.
Photo by Barry Jan.
Farmer Al proudly showed us his compost yard. Up until a year and half ago, Frog Hollow purchased their compost, but they now make it all on site. After a Ferry Plaza customer approached Al about composting, the farm started making their own compost using fruit waste, shredded tree branches, manure from a neighboring farm, and coffee grounds from their shop and other cafés at the Ferry Building. Within a year, they were able to produce 1,000 tons of compost, saving them about $30,000 a year.
The compost is brimming with microbial life, such as fungi, amoebas, nematodes, and actinomycetes (a bacteria that resembles thin white filaments). When the compost is applied to the orchards, the microcrobes inoculate the soil, nourishing and forming a symbiotic relationship with the tree roots.
Al’s daughter Millie visited us at the compost yard. “She’s a farmer of the future,” said Al. “But if you ask her, she’s a farmer right now.”
After saying goodbye to Farmer Al, we took a short trip to Knoll Farms, less than a mile away. Seen from the Knolls' property, the green oasis that is Frog Hollow marks a stark contrast to neighboring plots left bare by conventional growers.
Photo by Barry Jan.
Kristie and Rick Knoll moved to Brentwood in 1979 to escape the suburbs and grow their own organic food. They acquired 10 acres of alfalfa fields, and after a couple years they began to plant fruit trees and other crops. When they realized that they had way more food than they knew what to do with, they started selling at farmers markets in San Francisco. “It ended up being a vocation instead of a hobby,” says Kristie.
Photo by Barry Jan.
The Knolls are surrounded by conventional growers, who plant a single crop like corn (monoculture) and rely on conventional methods of fertilization, irrigation, and pest control. This neighbor has left the soil bare, which allows erosion and depletes the soil of nutrients, water, and microorganisms that are necessary for soil health.
Photo by Linda Liang.
One of the first things the Knolls did when they settled in Brentwood was plant eucalyptus windbreaks to protect their property from soil erosion and pesticide spray carried by gusty winds. They are also actively working to remineralize the soil through amendments such as rock and oyster shell powder.
Knoll Farms is a lush and biodiverse ecosystem.
The Knolls were certified organic until 2002, when they dropped their certification because they felt that the National Organic Program’s standards were too permissive, and certifiers were charging small farms high fees compared to larger farms. In 2009, they returned to organic certification.
To help market their produce when they dropped organic certification, the Knolls created the “Tairwá” label. The name is a play on the French term terroir, which describes the unique characteristics that a place’s soil, geography, and climate impart on the food that's grown there.
The diverse ecology of Knoll Farms includes many wild and domesticated animals, such as raccoons, opossums, coyotes, skunks, chickens, and geese. Brown Chinese geese are commonly used for weeding in China, but the Knolls let the birds run around the farm and do their own thing.
Photo by Barry Jan.
A couple beekeepers have hives at Knoll Farms. The Knolls let many of their plants go to maturity to provide forage for the bees and seeds for the birds. Kristie said, “There is always something blooming here—eucalyptus, weeds, the flowers in our yard…”
Cardoons (a Meditarranean vegetable that is similar to an artichoke but with a smaller head) provide food for the bees. These plants have already flowered and gone to seed.
Knoll Farms grows many rows of rosemary, which they mostly sell to Acme Bread Company for use in their herb slab. The plants’ purple blooms are another favorite of the bees!
The Knolls cure garlic under the eucalyptus trees.
Kristie took us deep into the “grandma” fig groves, where some of their oldest trees grow. Some of the trees were planted more than 30 years ago and have rarely been pruned, creating a dense canopy that offers a cool and shady respite during the hot Brentwood summers.
Photo by Linda Liang.
The Knolls grow five types of figs: Brown Turkey, Black Mission, Adriatic, Kadota, and an unidentified “Mystery” fig. Fig trees yield two different crops: the breba crop in June and July, and a main crop in August through October. The breba crop grows on the previous year’s wood before the leaves emerge. The main crop of fruit (shown here) grows on the new wood after the leaves have sprouted. Learn more about the fig harvest.
Our CUESA tour group enjoyed a lunch under the fig trees, including a dessert of chilled, ripe Knoll figs!
Photo by Barry Jan.
