Taking Stock

Winters, a city of slightly more than 6,000 people, is known for its small-town charm and its agricultural bounty. But the region's growers sometimes produce more than just your standard smorgasbord of fruits, nuts, grains and veggies.

Orchards and more

Though founded in 1875, Winters' reputation for agriculture began well before then. About 30 years earlier, JOHN REID WOLFSKILL settled in the area and put a large chunk of land-almost 17,000 acres-to good use, planting and tending vines, fruit and vegetables for more than half a century. His daughter Frances took over the property upon his death, and upon her passing in 1934 donated a little more than 100 acres to the Department of Pomology, which recently merged with other departments to create the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis. Today called the WOLFSKILL EXPERIMENTAL ORCHARD, the property primarily serves as a teaching orchard and experimental horticulture station that studies the cultivation and distribution of pomology crops, or tree, fruit and nut crops. The orchards are also host to the growing grounds for the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, which works to protect the existence of several thousand varieties of fruits and nuts by acquiring, studying and producing cloned copies.

From the ground up

MARTINEZ ORCHARDS began simply enough, when Daniel Martinez Sr. first began planting along Putah Creek in the mid-1950s. "At the time my dad was growing apricots," says DANIEL MARTINEZ JR. "So there were always inspections. One of the USDA inspectors was Ernie Peninou. Ernie knew a bit about the wine business-he was something of a wine historian and had contacts in the Napa Valley." Martinez Sr. and Peninou started a partnership in 1969 and, under the name Yolo Hills Viticultural Society, began grafting, growing and selling grapevine rootstock to vineyards in Napa and Sonoma counties.

Upon Peninou's retirement, Yolo Hills was merged in 1995 with Martinez Orchards, which also produces walnuts and prunes. Today, the majority of the wholesale business-somewhere in the area of a million field-grown dormant rootstock, dormant benchgrafts and field-grafted vines per year-still goes to the neighboring two counties.

Sometimes the rootstock stays home. In the early 2000s, the nursery served as a jumping-off point for Martinez Jr., SANTIAGO MORENO and MIKE ANDERSON (Peninou's great-nephew) to experiment with the grapes and make their own wines. Since there are about a dozen varieties of rootstock that they can use and graft, Martinez Jr. says, "[There are] lots of combinations that you can create." In 2002, under a lease agreement with Winters Winery, the trio formed BERRYESSA GAP VINEYARDS-a way for the long-time friends to serve and sell the best of their experiments, about 60 varieties of wines in all.

Adopt-a-tree

AVELLAR FARMS is a small family farm with 17 acres of almonds, about 2,700 trees. And one of them could have your name on it.

Founded in 1997 by JACQUELINE and TONY AVELLAR, at Avellar Farms, people can lease their own almond tree. As the harvest is typically in late September, it's just in time for lessees to receive their bounty for the holiday: between 16 and 20 pounds of in-shell almonds, or seven to nine pounds of shelled almonds of the Padre variety.

That's the production during normal years, anyway, says Jacqueline. Thanks to 2006's devastating spring, "we had so much rain and couldn't get in to spray. So we didn't have a harvest that year." When the Avellars went back to their customers to explain the situation, offering either a refund or a rollover to the next year, most customers opted to keep their leases. "They understood that's the life of the farmer." In fact, she says, several people bought an additional lease.

The idea was developed about four years ago by Tony and their children. "It's a nice gift for someone who has everything," Avellar says. "It's their way of becoming a California farmer for a year." She adds, "Our trees are young. They're really coming into their full production now, and in the next couple of years."

Avellar Farms has even been in the international public eye. Last year, the California Almond Board sent over public relations people who were promoting almonds in Korea. "They put on a luncheon in our orchard and we were on television in Korea with their food editors!" Another PR event included an unexpected "busload of French vintners. We didn't quite expect that many people, but it was very enjoyable."

The lease agreement, which costs $75, includes a regular newsletter and updates, so people can follow the progress of their tree and the farm: when the farm is spraying, pruning, or using a new piece of equipment. People are encouraged to stop and visit their tree, though it's best to call ahead to make sure someone will be available.

Hands on education

The nonprofit CENTER FOR LAND-BASED LEARNING was created in 1993 as "a living laboratory for people of all ages," says CRAIG MCNAMARA, who founded the center on his farmland, SIERRA ORCHARDS, "but especially elementary and high school students."

To most adolescents, farmers seem to be an "invisible, endangered species; most of these students have never been on a farm or outside of their community." Through the center's programs-the FARMS Leadership Program, its flagship, and SLEWS (Student and Landowner Education and Watershed Stewardship)-students from every walk of life can literally get their hands dirty while working side-by-side with farmers and learning about sustainable agriculture, pest management, natural habitat restoration, and other issues. The programs directly reach more than a thousand California students each year, with the idea to teach the critical connection between nature, society and agriculture and instill the desire and experience to become environmentally active community leaders.

The six FARMS sites stretch from Chico to Orange County, with each site hosting 30 students from five high schools. Students visit once a month throughout the school year. SLEWS focuses more exclusively on habitation restoration, says Mary Kimball, director, and hosts entire classes from 21 schools across Northern California. "Each class comes out with their teacher between three and five times over the course of the school year to do a restoration project," Kimball says. "They adopt it [and] come to the same location every time, where they get to know that farmer, that ranch, and they physically help do the restoration project." One of those ongoing projects is the Farm on Putah Creek-the headquarters that CLBL shares with Audubon California's Landowner Stewardship Program-which features a demonstration garden and hosts tours for 2,000 people annually.

CLBL is successful because it's "a partnership with so many other community-based organizations," Kimball says. One relatively new partner is the Culinary Institute of America. Every quarter, students from the New York campus visit the St. Helena campus to expand their education about the diversity of California agriculture and cuisine. A visit to CLBL is part of their schedule. "But rather than just getting a tour," Kimball says, "driving around and showing them the crops, we get them involved in hands-on activities. They work in the garden, do weeding, gardening, harvesting, they learn what a compost pile is. They tell us, 'We've always heard about sustainable agriculture and why to buy fresh, but we didn't really understand what it meant until we came to the farm.'" Considering that CLBL has hosted about 500 students over the past two years, "the impact you can have on chefs going back out across the country-making them think about the experience, to want to support their local farmers and buy locally-is incredible."

Award-winning agriculture

For more than 50 years, the Yolo County Resource Conservation District has partnered with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to support stewardship of local natural resources on the region's rural lands. Every year, the RCD names the Cooperator of the Year. The honoree is "typically someone that embodies the attitudes and approach of conservation," says Jeanette Wrysinski, senior program manager. "They are an active practitioner in making positive changes on the land. We meet and talk about potential candidates, what they've accomplished in the last year or over multiple years, as evidenced by the land they own or manage."

For the past two years, Winters' residents have claimed honors. In 2005, the award went to Charlie Rominger of Rominger Brothers Farms, a fifth-generation farming company noted for its sustainable agricultural practices. Just after receiving a diagnosis of cancer, says Cairn Rominger, her husband made the decision to create the Charlie Rominger Farmland Preservation Fund. "There has been an amazing outpouring of generosity I don't think even he would've expected," she says. "Because of that, it certainly is our goal at this point is to do something with it that honors his spirit and all of his efforts in preserving farmland." Rominger, who died in October 2006 at the age of 52, was a "true farmer hero," say members of the RCD.

In spring 2006, the award went to Tony Turkovich, part owner and managing partner of Button & Turkovich. Turkovich was lauded "for his long-standing use of progressive soil, water and wildlife conservation techniques" on his ranch, which produces tomatoes, wheat, onion seed, oranges and other crops. But there is always room for improvement, so Turkovich continues to diligently study the land and the methods of other farming operations to determine the most optimal practice for his own fields.

Do you like what you read? Subscribe to Solano Magazine »