Working with Massa Organics

written by John

For the past month or so, I've been spending my working hours with Massa Organics in Hamilton City, CA. They are growers of organic brown rice, organic wheat and organic almonds, and make the best almond butter you have ever had. The farm is a stone's throw from Chico and is on the Sierra Oro Farm Trail Map. You can find their products on their web site, in retail locations or at farmers markets and CSA’s around California.

Most of my time is spent with Greg, the farmer. However, it is a pretty big family affair over there (there's seven, to be exact, in the Massa household) and I never know what the day holds.The experience has been amazing. I get to learn something new every day. That is a pretty incredible thing, if one starts to think about it. As a newbie to this farming life, I consider myself lucky to have such a resource as Greg. I'm learning everything--from chopping down trees and touring the Colusa Farm Show, to learning about soil content and what it means to be a truly organic farm...even towing gigantic trailers and digging huge holes with a backhoe. Yeah, a BACKHOE! Woo!

I’ve been trying to soak up all of this like a sponge. At the last place I worked, I was just the “Cheese Guy” behind the farmer’s market table or making deliveries. Now there is real life-farmer dirt under my fingernails and we are always finding orange foam earplugs in the dryer. As each day is something new and rice season is coming up fast, I'm sure there will be plenty more to share.This is the front of a house that we built for the family's ducks. They were disappearing each night, one at a time. Greg thought it would be a good idea to give them a little peace of mind. So we made them a chic straw bale house made from recycled material and locally sourced straw. The door, which is closed in the picture, slides open for easier corralling of the ducks.

(Duck house back)

Here's a bird's nest I found in the first tree I chopped down. Yeah, I yelled "TIMBER!!"

Greg has sort of a beaver problem. :) They tend to cause some problems to the rice checks; because of that, we had to reset a couple of the water control boxes. We dug some big holes, installed a few new pipes and did a lot of shoveling. I think we are ready for rice season.

100% Organic Greatness

A few weeks ago we were helping out again at the Saturday Farmer’s Market. This time it was for our friends Allen and Pamela, the “orange juice people.” It was great to learn about another operation, and to share in their passion. We helped make their OJ (which, by the way, is like drinking rays from the sun; it fills one’s body with the greatness of all of nature), and sell some oranges. So, if you are around the Market one Saturday morning you should definitely give them a try. Enjoy!

Bottling at Lodestar Olive Oil

When farms and small businesses hire Betterfit Ranch, we're not just doing the sales, communications or marketing; we actually prefer to get in on the action. After a combined 25 years of working in this area, we absolutely understand that most Northstate farmers would rather, well, farm. There's not usually enough time in a day to grow, harvest and market their value-added agricultural products, so that's where we come in. Think of us as the Mr. Wolf of agriculture.

On this particular day, we worked for our friends at Lodestar Farms' plant and tasting room in Oroville, CA. There, we bottled EVOO for the next day's farmers market (this way it is as fresh as possible when you buy it).
After bottling, we applied the labels. Then came the beautiful foil seal that goes over the corked cap and is sealed on with heat. John was a natural; Mandy needed a bit more practice. Below, her pile of "do-overs."Lodestar is a gem among what many refer to as the Silverado Trail in California's Sierra Foothills. The Johansson family has capitalized on their location and climate to produce a true, California-style olive oil with late-harvest Mission olives. Visiting their tasting room on the farm and gazing over the idyllic grove setting in the late afternoon is one of our favorite Sunday pastimes. Try their Balsamic Dipping Oil or their Lemon-Infused olive oil, with real Meyer lemons!

For more information, visit lodestarfarms.com.

Hey...We're Youth in Food!

As delegates at this year's Terra Madre, Slow Food's international gathering of food communities, we found ourselves in a very unique position. We were young enough to be considered part of the Youth Food Movement, which encompassed anyone in the 18-30 range involved in food; but we were attending as raw milk cheese producers - the only ones from California, to be exact.

A handful in the Youth Food Movement genre were farmers or producers; most were interested in apprenticing or interning on farms, while others had dreams of their own place but weren't sure where to start. Several came to Italy as members of their Slow Food on Campus convivium, and others were chefs who understood - or were looking to understand - their connection with those who work the soil.

There was an impromptu YFM breakout session during lunch one day, where a few visionaries our age attempted to foster discussion among the youth delegates by breaking into two groups - John joined the "I already have land/a farm/a jumpstart but am looking where to go from here" group, while Mandy joined the "internships/apprenticeships/farmwork" group.

We didn't go in with any expectations or assumptions; we just wanted to hear what everyone else was talking about. We were just as interested in new and different ideas as we were in sharing our own. Though we managed Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese, we also sort of worked as apprentices there; and learning from others our own age with very similar dreams and ideals was incredible.

The melding of eternal optimism and business-mindedness in that room was a great experience. For the scale of farming we want to do, it would be futile to have one without the other. While at PD&C, we'd become so focused on the business side of things - profit and loss reports, sales goals, grant proposals, spreadsheets - that we'd become business people who happened to make cheese. But looking back, what a great experience for the journey on which we're about to embark.

While we work on our own cash flow projections for our farm, we've started to put our dreams for Betterfit Ranch in a notebook to ensure we never forget those intricate details that we know will make our farm sparkle. Because the dreams of sitting at our big wooden table with a fresh slab of cheese and home-raised prosciutto with friends new and old will continue to be a dream without those realistic weight belts to keep us grounded and moving forward.

In the meantime, we hope to keep in touch with the friends we made thousands of miles away. We're keeping track of the greenhorns project and feel like we may actually have found our place among those freshfaced farmers. Our experience in farm management and business plan and grant writing places us on that cusp between the idealistic and profoundly active "Youth in Food" and the tired but just as active "Experienced Producers," but maybe that's ok. If we happen to help others at any age who find themselves intrigued to the point of action in this whole sustainable food movement, well then we're still living by our mantra: Eat. Work. Laugh. Grow.

Bacio's Scrumptious Thanksgiving Sides

Give Thanks for local, fresh, quality dishes that will warm your heart and home! Prepaid side orders from Bacio, Chico's favorite catering and carryout experts, are the easiest and tastiest way to complement your traditional Thanksgiving main course. Call 530-345-7787 to place your order by 7:30 pm Monday, Nov. 24. Then pick up your delish dishes at 1903 Park Ave in Chico, Tuesday 11:30 - 7:30 or Wednesday 11:30 - 8 pm.

One pound = 2-3 guests

Andouille Sausage & Cornbread Stuffing ($10.50/lb)

Hazelnut, Sage & Mushroom Stuffing ($9.50/lb)

Smashed Yukon Gold Potatoes With Caramelized Shallots ($7.50/lb)

Golden Onion Gratin with Gruyere Cheese & Panko ($8.50/lb)

Roasted Butternut Squash with Yams, Carrots, Caramelized Onions and Pomegranate Jewels ($7.50/lb)

Haricot Verts with Herbed Butter ($9/lb)

Cranberry Mandarin Relish ($5/pt or $8/qt)

Pan Gravy! ($7/pt or $12/qt)

and for Dessert...
Pies from Mim's Bakery, Chico's Confectionary Experts since 1989!
(pies serve about 8 guests)

Organic Apple - Fuji & Granny Smith Apples, a hint of fresh ginger and spice, baked in a flaky butter crust. ($18)

Maple Pecan - Maple syrup imparts a smokey, delicious flavor to a traditional pecan pie... made with local pecans. ($22)

Organic Pumpkin Pie - Local sugar pumpkins roasted and then baked into a traditional pumpkin pie. ($18)

The Path That Led Us Here

Three years ago, we visited Ceago, a biodynamic farm run by the Fetzer family. Mandy was a magazine editor, John was along for the ride to take photos. What we experienced there was like nothing we'd ever seen, but it was everything we wanted.

The three-hour drive home was filled with hopes, dreams and visions of our own small farm, where people might visit, work the land, eat communally, and share and laugh the night away.

Eat, Work, Laugh, Grow were the words we most commonly used to describe the vision of our new farm. We knew we wanted our farm to be sustainable and small. Education, community and fun were components we wanted most.

We spent two years at Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese, Mandy's parents' farmstead dairy and cheese company. As manager, Mandy was cheesemaker, bookkeeper and communications director. As sales and marketing coordinator, John was head of sales, shipping, design and marketing.

We became adept at direct sales and marketing, focusing on farmers markets and retail sales while garnering national attention on the Rachael Ray show and international comraderie at Terra Madre, Slow Food International's gathering held every two years in Turin, Italy.

Together, we managed the complete operation while Mandy's stepfather recovered from cancer surgery. We milked, moved the cows on rotational pasture, made cheese, and prepped and sold it at farmers markets.

During that time, the seed that was planted at Ceago firmly took root; owning and managing our own sustainable farm was no longer a far-off dream, it was a reality. We soon realized we are not only willing and able to do the work--we're knowledgable enough to make it happen.

Today, we are completing our own business plan and putting the skills we garnered at Pedrozo Dairy & Cheese to work. We're searching out properties, researching the heritage livestock we want to raise, and keeping an ear to the ground for cheesemaking and milking equipment. The goal is to have our own farm and be married on it by autumn 2009.

Until then, we're putting those sales and marketing strategies to work by helping the small farms and businesses who know and like our style and need help in the marketing area. We're fortunate to have such a foundation of support in our community and are more than happy to give back whenever we get the chance.

*Pic of John and Mandy borrowed from Canyon of Cheese.