Eatwell Farm Tour
CUESA led a tour of Eatwell Farm in 2008.
Eatwell Farm in Dixon produces dozens of crops and is particularly well known for its lavender. In addition to selling fresh and dried lavender, Eatwell sends the flowers to Sonoma to be made into essential oils, hydrosols, and other fragrant products. In the foreground are strawberry plants.
Nigel Walker owns and manages Eatwell Farm with the help of about a dozen workers (the number varies throughout the year).
Our visit, on a hot day in June, serendipitously coincided with Eatwell Farm's first wheat harvest.
Nigel contracted with his neighbor Matt Cooley to manage the wheat field. Matt's labor crew harvested the wheat in about a day using this red combine. The machine is so named because it combines the tasks of cutting, threshing and cleaning the grain.
The crew loaded the wheat into Nigel's three shiny new storage tanks, each of which holds about 20 tons of wheat. The total harvest was about 75 tons. Some will go to Colusa for milling and bagging, some will be sold at the farmers' market, and 30 tons of it are reserved for some special ladies...
...the 2500 hens that lay the famous Eatwell Farm eggs! The hens are the reason Nigel grew the wheat in the first place. His discovery that 65% of his organic chicken feed was coming from China prompted him to find a more local way to nourish the flock.
The chickens are free-range and roost in mobile coops that are moved to new pasture every 2-3 weeks. To the right is an alfalfa cover crop. The hens will eat the plants and leave droppings behind, fertilizing the soil for next season's crop.
Nigel just got a biodiesel processor. He'll soon be able to run his tractors on biodiesel made from recycled vegetable oil from San Francisco restaurants. He currently runs his delivery truck on straight recycled veggie oil.
The mint, rose geranium, and lemon balm delighted us with their smell as we walked past.
And the tomatoes were coming along beautifully!
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CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. Learn More »