Somehow, this city girl caught a farming bug that has become her life's passion. Torrance native Judi Gerber's love of local agriculture has sprouted two blogs where she writes about the virtues of growing your own produce and organic farming and lists a treasure trove of resources for the South Bay gardener.
On L.A. Farm Girl, she lists local farms and farmers markets, and writes about the local agriculture industry.
On The Giving Gardener, Judi is trying to establish a network of local backyard gardeners who would share their extra bounty with charity groups. But she also has a very complete list of South Bay gardening events, local gardens and clubs, educational resources and garden catalogs and nurseries.
As if that weren't enough resource material to keep a gardening fiend going, she answered our questions about the best source in the South Bay to get supplies and plants, and gave her opinion on what we should be growing and what to do with all the tomatoes we're about to be overrun with. And she even told us how to get fresh milk delivered to the door, just like in the good old days.
Here's her bio:
Judi Gerber is an agriculture and garden writer who is a Torrance native. She regularly writes about California farming and organic gardening for various publications including California Tour and Travel, California Farmer, and Organic Producer magazines, and the West's agriculture weekly, Capital Press. She has a monthly garden column that appears in the Palos Verdes Peninsula News and is the author of the upcoming book Farming in Torrance and the South Bay by Arcadia Publishing to be published in September 2008.She received a bachelor's degree from UC Santa Cruz, and a Master's Of Public Administration from Cal. State Long Beach, and is a University of California Master Gardener and has a certificate in Horticultural Therapy. She has been actively involved as a volunteer at the Torrance Farmers' Market, leads a Senior Gardening Program at the Bartlett Senior Center, and is currently a Library Commissioner for the City of Torrance.
When and why did you start blogging?
I started blogging in November 2007, with my www.lafarmgirl.blogspot.com blog. I started because I wanted people to become better informed about urban agriculture in the LA area and California agriculture in general. As an agriculture writer, I am amazed at how little people know about where their food comes from and how it's grown, and about all of the wonderful people who grow it locally and throughout the State. There's a whole community of city farmers, community gardeners, and others devoted to making agriculture sustainable and available to more people and they are all over Los Angeles County including here in the South Bay.
I thought that instead of writing alarmist articles about the dangers of our continued reliance on foreign food and large agri-businesses, providing people with factual and positive information about how they can get fresher, better tasting food and help those who grow it would be more effective. There are enough scary stories out there, just take a look at the last week in the Daily Breeze, you even had an editorial about the need to help those who are literally starving around the world.
It makes no sense that we should have food shortages or hoarding in California. We still produce about one-half of the nation's fruits and vegetables and yet, we import just as much. Why? Why do we not support our small and family farmers who also still make up the majority of our growers, but struggle daily to survive? I just flew up to northern California a couple of weeks ago, and from the plane I was struck by how much of our land is still agricultural. But that is changing because people are unaware of what's going on and the need to save it.
The Central Valley is facing the same issues we did here with development and growth, and I guess my goal is to make people aware of that to stop it before it's too late, before what happened here, happens there. Los Angeles County was the nation's top farm county from 1909 to 1950!!!! That is an amazing statistic to me.
So, I try to focus on the stories of those people and places. For example, the last "traditional" farmer in Torrance, Tom Ishibashi who farms at Torrance Airport and still has a produce stand on Crenshaw Boulevard and who has the sweetest strawberries around right now.
What has been your most popular post?
The most popular post on www.lafarmgirl.blogspot.com has been the one called "The Farm Can Come to You." I wrote about the fact that each week, the milkman delivers milk right to my door right here in Torrance, just like when I was a kid, and the benefit for me is that it's organic milk, too.
How did a city girl get interested in gardening and farming?
Well, around 2000, I started volunteering at the Torrance Certified Farmers' Market, working on their newsletter and I also started freelancing for the agricultural weekly, Capital Press. And, after hearing their stories, I became almost obsessed with educating others about our farms and I tried to do all I could to help save them. I gave a series of classes at local adult schools on farm destinations or agri-tourism destinations, places you can go for fun, to pick produce, take classes, etc., I led series of Art in Agriculture Excursions for the City of Torrance, and I just started writing about them for whoever would publish my stories.
And that led me to learn more about how to grow my own so I could sort of "walk the walk" and not just talk about it. So, I took the training program from the LA County Master Gardening Program and became a certified Master Gardener. As a Master Gardener we teach low-income and home gardeners how to grow more of their own fresh fruits and vegetables. To remain certified we must do so many volunteer and community education hours each year.
Also, my Dad is an avid gardener and for years I tried to ignore his prodding to garden but I finally gave in!! I also remember as a little girl, going with my grandpa who lived in the San Fernando Valley to pick produce and to farm stands, and of course pony rides and it was always something I loved. I also went to UC Santa Cruz, which has its own farm and garden so that had a big influence on me as well.
How much of what you personally eat do you grow yourself?
Not as much as I'd like to. I just spent the past 7 months working on a book for Arcadia Publishing, called Farming in Torrance and the South Bay, and between the time I devoted to that and my gardening workshops and volunteer activities, I haven't been out in the garden much. However, I am working on planting my tomatoes, I have herbs, and have ordered some warm season lettuce varieties from the Cook's Garden so I am slowly getting back out there!
Where is the best place in the South Bay to buy produce?
Although I might be biased since I am a volunteer there, the best place to buy produce is the Torrance Certified Farmers' Market, it's the 3rd largest farmers' market in LA County, its on Tuesday and Saturday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Wilson Park. The market is not only a great place to buy fresh fruits and vegetables, but it's a great community meeting place. And, Mary Lou Weiss, the Market Manager is one of the most experienced and respected Managers around. She was last year's LA County Farmers' market Manager of the Year. She is passionate about our family farmers and about her work and the City of Torrance is lucky to have her. We are lucky in the South Bay to have so many certified farmers' markets, the certification ensures that you are getting your produce right from the farmer who grew it, you have a unique opportunity to talk face to face with the farmer, get recipe ideas and ask for the produce you want.
In fact, I am adding a new feature to the www.lafarmgirl.blogspot.com blog, "What's In Season Now" that will tell what's in season at the farmers' markets, new items, etc. at markets in our area to help people find the produce they want.
Where is the best place in the South Bay to buy plants and gardening equipment?
I have several favorites. Again, I have tried to be more mindful of buying locally, not just for my food, but other products and that's why I prefer buying from the small, independent nurseries that we still have left in the South Bay. It helps the local economy as well as helping them stay in business, and they tend to have better products and you can ask for what you want. A couple of my favorites are Moneta Nursery in Gardena who have wonderful roses, and edibles including a wide choice of herbs and vegetables. I also like Elwood Nursery up in Rolling Hills Estates.
Since now is the time to plant tomatoes another place I want to mention is Laurel's Heirloom Tomatoes, Laurel Garza is right in Lomita. You can order online, or she now has Plant Sale Days where you can actually go to her "city farm" and get the tomatoes. She grows organic heirloom tomato plants, with some varieties you can't find anywhere else. Check out her site: http://www.heirloomtomatoplants.com/.
You have a charity project that asks backyard gardeners to donate their extra harvest to local food shelters. How did that idea come to you and how did you get started? How have the results been so far? What do people need to know to donate?
I just started my project, and am starting it with a blog: www.givinggardeners.blogspot.com, and since I was working on my book, I just now am getting it going. The idea came to me as part of my Master Gardener activities and from my work as a writer. I know there's a real need here for food and most local agencies are facing food shortages throughout LA County. So I thought that home gardeners could help out because most of them always have excess produce. In exchange for helping we will have master gardeners offer workshops and maybe get some other things going such as local nursery discounts, demonstration gardens, etc. I am basically adapting the Plant a Row for The Hungry Model that the American Garden Writer's Association created.
So far I have been working on finding a place for our kick-off event, and getting other master gardeners involved and am working with LA Food Bank who is helping me coordinate with local agencies, and I am working on issues of certification if necessary. I have also been talking to local government officials and others in the area to get the word out. So, it's just starting but so far people seem eager to help. I also just put something in my monthly garden column in the PV News that appeared on April 19.
People who want to donate, help me get the word out, or want to help in other ways, can contact me via The Giving Gardeners Blog or by email to farmwriter@californiafamilyfarms.com.
What are your best tips for South Bay gardeners? What should we be growing
in our backyards?
That's a tricky question because the South Bay has so many different micro-climates and soil types. Think about it, we have the beach and we have the inland areas each with their own needs, the cool fog, the hot days, etc. But, my number one tip no matter where you live is to remember that soil is everything, it is the most important thing in gardening. If you don't have a soil that drains well, that has the proper nutrients, that is well aerated, you will tend to be disappointed with the results. So, the best tip is to think about your area, do you have soil that's sandy or clay like and doesn't move? Most people just see something they like, they plant it and wonder why it doesn't live and never think about what they are planting it in and where. Think about the amount of sun needed for what you plant, think about the kind of climate it needs to grow in, does it work here? You can get help at the local nursery, or just buy a copy of the Sunset Western Garden book to start with because they offer tips on what to grow in our area. You can also take workshops and classes at some great places, like the Madrona Marsh and South Coast Botanic Garden.
Not surprisingly, I think we should be growing edibles, fresh herbs, fruits, and vegetables and grow them using the best organic gardening techniques so you conserve water, eliminate the need for chemicals, and preserve the soil.
And, I also think we should be growing native plants, both ornamentals and edibles that suit our area. Again, you can find out about them at Madrona Marsh, they have classes once a month on different natives to grow. And, the South Coast Native Plant Society also has monthly meetings and plant sales up at South Coast Botanic Garden.
Got any really great tomato recipes?
I have a really simple recipe I make for spaghetti sauce, and I make it in the crockpot and cook it all day, and it makes enough to freeze several batches for later and uses up a good amount of those summer tomatoes!
7 Cups Crushed Tomatoes (garden fresh or canned if you don't have them)
1 Can (6 ounces) Tomato Paste
l large onion (chopped)
2 Teaspoons Italian Seasoning
2 Teaspoons Sugar
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
Mix all ingredients together in slow cooker and cover and cook on low heat setting 8 to 10 hours (or high 4 to 5 hours)
I usually include turkey sausage in my sauce, I brown it first and then put in with everything else
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