Hi,
I met some of you last night at the Organic Gardening meeting in
Santa
Barbara. It was great! My husband and I gleaned a ton of
information! In
return I am sending you and invitation to the Santa Barbara/Ventura
Chapter
of the State wide, non-profit, California Rare Fruit Growers
organization.
Our next meeting is this Saturday, and then we will not meet again
until the
third Saturday in January.
WHITE DOVE FARM in SANTA PAULA----
Our October meeting will be held on Saturday the 21st at 10 am at
the White
Dove Farm, 15821 W. Santa Paula St. in Santa Paula.
Owner John Koman has taken what was 10 acres of essentially
monoculture lemon
and avocado groves and will show us how he is transforming his
property into
a vision of polyculture and sustainable farming!
John will show us how overhead sprinklers help reduce pest problems
by
creating a 'rainforest' environment along with its benefits for
foliar
nutrient spraying. He will also share how he has turned root rot
problems
around in the 9 months in the avocado groves by proper composting
and other
methods. We will see how he has gradually interplanted exotic fruits
such as
bananas and guavas to gradually change over his operations and also
used
marketable row crops such as watermelon and squash as ground
covers.
As John is experimenting with his growing methods, he will be asking
our
group for suggestions regarding how to be more organic , keep weeds
down and
ideas for commericially viable alternative fruit trees to
try.
The house is located at 15821 W. Santa Paula St., Between Pack and
Briggs.
Meet at the barn. A sign "CRFG" will be there at the
entrance.
Use 126 from Ventura, travel about 13 miles from 101 and 126
intersection to
Briggs, turn left.
W. Santa Paula St. is 2 stops down, turn right.
Last home on the left. Meet at the Barn---Drive in as far as
possible.
Pismo Pet PetMarv@aol.com
Santa Barbara
Permaculture Network
224 E. Figueroa St, #C
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
805/962-2571
sbpcnet@silcom.com