Mendocino Organics is dedicated to growing high-quality food, working toward a sustainable food system in partnership with our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) shareholders. From Mendocino County to San Francisco, our community supports our farming endeavors, and in return, we support them with tasty, nutritious food. We believe that through our operation, we can provide our community with fresh, wholesome food, be a source of meaningful and gainful employment, create an aesthetically pleasing agricultural landscape, conserve resources, and help to support our community.
We hope this site will enable the community to visit the farm from the comfort of their home, as well as enlighten readers on an associative economic food system and biodynamic farming. You can find stories and pictures from all aspects of Mendocino Organics’ operation.
Products from the farm include:
- Year-round produce
- Grain
- Lamb
- Pork
- Beef
The Farmers
Adam and Paula Gaska started farming together in 2008, when Mendocino Organics moved to Heart Arrow Ranch on Laughlin Ridge overlooking Redwood Valley. Adam started farming at age 19 and has raised just about every farm animal imaginable and grown practically any crop you can grow in this region. He is a Board Member of the Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op and has served on the Steering Committee of the Mendocino Organic Network, an independent farm certification group and instigator of local organic happenings.
Paula received her B.A. in Economics from Stanford University in 2004 and worked as a natural resources economist in Washington, DC before moving to California to farm in 2007. Paula is active with The Greenhorns, helping promote, support, and recruit new farmers across the country through various Greenhorns initiatives. In 2012, she co-edited Greenhorns: 50 Dispatches from the New Farmers’ Movement. Paula is also a Board Member of the Biodynamic Farming and Gardening Association.
The Farm
Joe and Julie Golden have generously allowed Mendocino Organics to base their operation at Heart Arrow Ranch on Laughlin Ridge, overlooking Redwood Valley. Currently, Adam and Paula raise tree fruit, annual vegetables, eggs, pigs, poultry, cows, and sheep at the ranch. Jerry Yates manages the vineyard and olive orchard, as well as the Goldens’ Fairbairn Ranch in Hopland.
The sheep graze among the vines during winter when the grapes are dormant. This helps the grapes by cutting back weeds and fertilizing the soil, and the sheep receive pasture in return. During the rest of the year, the sheep pasture in the surrounding rangeland or irrigated pasture in Potter Valley. You can find the egg-laying chickens housed at various parts of the ranch throughout the year, as well as the cattle eating, meditating, and fertilizing in different pasture areas. The pigs also live in the rangeland, roaming the oak woodland. Along with diversifying agricultural production on the property, Mendocino Organics is working with the Goldens to produce their Biodynamic preparations on-farm, consulting on their cover cropping system, and helping manage the farm’s fertility.
Both operations aspire to having a diverse farm that is sustainable and mutually beneficial for the animals, crops, people, and the natural environment.
Mendocino Organics’ farm operation also includes production of grain and hay at 40 acres in south Ukiah and roughly 50 acres in Potter Valley for pasture or hay and annual vegetables.
Where to find our Seasonal Food
- Ukiah Natural Foods Co-op – produce, lamb, pork
- Bar Agricole in San Francisco – lamb, pork
- Mendocino Grain Project – grain
Collaborators/Supporters
- Golden Vineyards
- North Coast Opportunities
- Bar Agricole
- You, our CSA membership
CSA Testimonials
“I love what you are doing, when I visit the farm, I get a better grasp of how much work you are putting into this. I can see that it is a labor of love, not of greed. Thank You for your service.” – Willits member
“I love bringing the basket home every week, I love that I have an excuse to get the kids to eat more greens and roots (we have to eat it, honey, Adam and Paula worked hard to grow it for us!) I particularly love knowing where my food comes from. And it’s all delicious.” – Willits member
“It’s important that we (community) acknowledge the efforts of Adam and Paula that transcend the weekly basket of winter vegetables and the MOCSA. Establishing locally supported agriculture at the Heart Arrow Ranch broadens the localized agricultural infrastructure in Mendocino County and benefits the entire community now and hopefully in the future. Adam and Paula are dedicated, knowledgeable and visionary people who created the MOCSA and are working very hard to evolve the infrastructure of locally supported agriculture.” – Ukiah member
“I’m very happy to be a part of this endeavor.” – Redwood Valley member
Press
The Mendocino Country Independent, 2008 (pg. 8 )
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