FAIRVIEW GARDENS AND THE CENTER FOR URBAN AGRICULTURE, SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA

THE HISTORIC FARM

Javier Gomez, one of Fairview’s resident farmers, with a black rock chicken, one of the many resident hens that provide eggs to the farm and surrounding community.

Buried in the suburbs of Santa Barbara, California, rows of avocados, peaches, plums, and citrus stretch toward the deep blue Southern California sky. Interplanted among the rows are vibrant seasonal and annual vegetables. Lacinato kale and Bright Lights Swiss chard poke out of rich, fertile soil. Chickens stroll the grounds looking for grubs and find hidden pockets in which to lay their speckled or blue eggs.

Unlike most other urban farms in American, Fairview Gardens is unique not so much because of what it has become over the years as for what it has not become over the years. It is the oldest organic farm in California and was saved from the fate of most other farms in the area through the development of the Center for Urban Agriculture and a conservation easement. Without these two events, Fairview would look just like the cul-de-sac suburban developments that surround the farm for miles in every direction.

Walking across the farm, manager Toby McPartland says, laughing, “We farm in a glass house.” The walls separating it from the suburban housing tracts enclose the farm on nearly all sides, creating an island of agriculture within a sea of modern American development. The public library is on one corner and the headquarters for the local school district is across the street. In many ways, the neighborhood could be described as a perfectly planned community. The residents have their safe streets, nearby commercial areas, a school, and their food source. Unfortunately, it wasn’t planned this way.

Invariably, a tension arises when any farm project moves onto a vacant lot within an existing neighborhood. As with any somewhat radical change (and transforming a rubble-strewn lot into a plot that boasts rows of vegetables, a scattering of chicken coops, and a staff of farmers indeed marks that kind of change), the community must anticipate a period of growing pains until both sides—the new farmers and the established residents—get to know one another and begin to create realistic expectations for the brand-new relationship. Fairview’s situation tells the inverse of that common urban farm story.

In Fairview’s case, the farm came first. It has been on this same plot of land since 1895. Over time, the houses and building codes and community guidelines and neighborhood and city committees came to the farm’s edge, not vice versa. It might be assumed that Fairview’s century-old presence would secure it a modicum of precedence for operating a farm. But civic unrest and misunderstanding from neighbors—over tractor noise, chickens, and even the insects and pests typical to any farm—raised concerns from the new suburban residents. While kids in the neighborhood have always cherished their relationship with the Fairview chickens, their parents have had major issues with the roosters.

Transplanting seedling instead of seeding directly in the field is one way Fairview Gardens maximizes its yield and increases sales income.

The solution to the battle between farm and suburb was the creation of the nonprofit Center for Urban Agriculture, which focused on securing land conservation easements and historical designation. From there, Fairview has had to work with the city to gain approval and permits for such farm activities as raising fifty or so chickens. But Fairview hit a wall with most efforts to conform to city policies, because no precedents exist in the city books for an urban farm operating on a small scale. The fact that the historic farm has no historic safety net in the coding and zoning of the city-planning books marks a frustrating irony in the Fairview story. The permit process for chickens, for example, requires obtaining a commercial poultry operation permit that costs ten thousand dollars. Such a fee will never make sense on Fairview’s scale of operation. “The rules are drawn up for giant farms, and there’s little room for accommodating an operation on our scale,” Toby says. “We’re just trying to feed our community.”

Community relations have improved since the early days of suburban growth. Santa Barbara residents can be characterized as interested in local agriculture and business and supportive of environmentally and socially progressive endeavors. And the Goleta Valley, in which Santa Barbara resides, is one of the most ideal places in America to grow food: the climate and soil are perfect for producing a wide variety of products with few naturally occurring problems. Yet farmland is disappearing at an alarming rate. Fairview is the voice for preserving what remains. Michael Ableman, founder of the Center for Urban Agriculture, helped create a model land trust that ensures Fairview will be a farm forever. The trust, which was the first of its kind, requires that the land always remain a working organic farm and that education be an ongoing component.

Toby McPartland is dedicated to keeping Fairview a productive farm. “We aren’t farming for ‘production.’ We’re farming for profits. I sit down every year and decide how much we want to make and then create a crop plan that enables us to do that. We have a finance committee that meets once a month, including professors from the University of California at Santa Barbara, that helps make changes to ensure we put together a profitable example.”

Santa Barbara’s Fairview Gardens was a thriving farm long before the arrival of the suburbs that now surround it.

Fairview exemplifies how an urban farm can create demand for high-quality, locally grown organic products cultivated on a small scale and supplement that market further with supplies from larger, more rural growers. As in so much of the nation’s food-production debate, a tension exists between Fairview’s desire to produce a diversity of food that the local community wants and that is healthy for the land and the temptation to use the land for less intensive, more profitable (for now) monocropping. Toby explains, “I’m doing a profit-and-loss study on each crop to figure out what’s the best thing for us to grow. We’ve seen that kale is a really profitable crop because there’s high demand and we can harvest off the same plant ten to twelve times in a season. We call it a cut-and-come-again crop.”

Toby and the Fairview staff are developing relationships with local growers so that Fairview can focus on growing high-dollar specialty crops and then buy other crops from rural farmers. This allows them to keep their CSA members happy with a diverse amount of food and at the same time not lose money on vegetables that don’t make sense at such a small scale. The end goal is to increase the economic security for the regional farmers while still providing a diversity of products to local customers. “We’re looking at whether all our markets need to be so diverse or if we can focus on some niche crops to make more money,” says Toby. “For instance, we’re growing wonderful Spanish Padrón peppers specifically for local Hispanic restaurants. We’re providing strawberries to the district schools. The key is figuring out what’s the most profitable thing to grow for a farm our size.”

This model illustrates a potentially powerful way to make urban farms across the country relevant to a broader spectrum of the community. There’s no way urban farms can produce enough food to feed everyone. But they can create demand for locally grown products and supply a certain portion of that market. The balance between education and production is the crucial part of the model and something Fairview’s newest director, Mark Tollefson, takes seriously. “We are working on an apprenticeship program so that people from all over the country can come here to learn how to farm,” explains Mark. “We can teach the economic viability of small-scale farming. But to do that, we need entrepreneurs now like we’ve never needed them before, and the only way we’re going to get them is by training them.”

Because strawberries readily absorb harmful chemicals through their porous exterior, they are among the fruits that benefit most from organic farming practices.

Fairview provides a classic example of how urban farms put the entrepreneurial intellect to the test. Although there is tremendous support for Fairview in the community, the agricultural system is not built for local connections. For instance, a major challenge for Fairview comes from Santa Barbara’s high real-estate costs. The salaries of the farm’s staff cannot keep up with the city’s cost of living. Farm labor is an often overlooked aspect of urban farming. At Fairview, the entire farm labor staff comes from one extended family that originally emigrated from Mexico. The core members have been working this land for over twenty years, and they know it like the back of their hand. For years, the family has lived in temporary housing on the farm due, in part, to the high real-estate prices in the surrounding community. Santa Barbara is one of the most expensive places to live in the country, and it would be virtually impossible for a farm laborer to pay rent, much less buy a house. Unfortunately, the City of Santa Barbara forced Fairview to remove their temporary housing a few years ago, putting the entire farm in jeopardy. In a compromise with the city, the workers currently live in yurts on the farm. The Fairview board is drafting plans to build model farm labor housing.

This situation points to an obvious relationship that doesn’t currently exist: the price of food should be reflected in the value of the land. An economically balanced relationship would enable farmers to live in the communities they feed. But because our food is radically subsidized on many levels, land values have nothing to do with how productive the land actually is. And thus Fairview represents a powerful educational symbol for the country’s last half century of growth which has seen much of our nation’s most productive farmland given over to suburban housing.

If we want to have a diverse, safe, and resilient food system, the farmland surrounding cities must be preserved and valued. For Mark Tollefson, it all starts with connecting to the next generation. “I’ve worked with thousands of high-school students in the last decade and talked with them about how they see the world. Unfortunately, they’re saying two things: ‘the problems are too big, and there’s nothing I can do about them.’ I can’t accept that this is our future. As the father of two small children, I have to confront the question of what we can do to move forward. Can we give the next generation of children hope?”

Lavender and other herbs can be good cash crops for market sales.

Fairview and the Center for Urban Agriculture are working to become a national training center for urban agriculture. Mark envisions youth from all over the country coming to the historic farm to learn the basics of food production, from young adults serious about operating a farm business to young children eating strawberries they have just picked by hand. “We need to have kids laughing on the farm. I’d like to hear the music of laughter from children all the time. Once they understand the place of the farm in their lives on that level, everything else takes care of itself.”

Fairview Gardens operates a roadside produce stand that generates much-needed revenue and is a valuable resource for the nearby community.

ESTABLISHED: Fairview in 1895; the Center for Urban Agriculture in 1997.

SIZE: a 12-acre urban farm and a 25-acre suburban farm.

MISSION: To demonstrate the economic viability of small-scale urban agriculture while providing education to farmers, policy makers, and the local community.

WHO’S IN CHARGE: Executive director (Mark Tollefson) supervised by a board of directors.

SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD: Suburban tract homes, a public library, and the school district headquarters.

ZONING: Commercial. Zoned as a land trust to ensure that it remains a farm.

FUNDING: Earned income (produce sales and education programs), private donations, fund-raising events, and public and private grants.

WHO EATS IT: 250 CSA members, customers at local farmer’s markets and an on-site farm stand, and various institutions, including local schools, through wholesale distribution.

HOW TO PLANT PERENNIAL FRUIT TREES IN THE CITY

City horticulture departments are fond of planting non-fruit-bearing fruit trees. It’s a win-win situation: the trees provide the same beauty as a fruit-bearing tree—amazing flush of spring blossoms and shade in the summer—without all that pesky fruit litter to clean up in the fall. This is, of course, absolute heresy to the urban farmer. Why on earth would you intentionally plant something that wouldn’t feed people?

A group of volunteers in Asheville, North Carolina, got inspired twelve years ago to turn an old landfill on parks and recreation land into an edible park. The George Washington Carver Edible Park now hosts over forty varieties of fruit trees and is an amazing example to cities around the world of how easy it can be to turn wasted urban space into something beautiful and productive. The park provides free food to whoever wants it and connects communities, and kids especially, with their food system. What’s best is that it costs about the same as maintaining a traditional park.

In Santa Barbara, Doug Hagensen helps run a nonprofit called Backyard Bounty that scavenges unwanted fruit from backyards, public spaces, and farms to redistribute to the hungry. “We’ve got lots of hungry people in our community,” Doug explains. “Every city has people not getting enough food, and especially not getting the right kind of food. We’re just trying to connect the dots.” Organizations like Backyard Bounty are popping up in cities across the country.

Fruit trees in the city can also be a simple way to make our food system more efficient and improve the health of low-income residents. In New Orleans, for example, the mirliton (chayote) tree has grown for centuries, hanging over sidewalks and shading backyards with its dense canopy. The meaty gourd fruit has long been used as a rich filler in many New Orleans recipes, a readily accessible nutritional bonus without a price tag.

While fruit trees in parks and public spaces make a lot of sense, there’s also a good reason to add them to the mix of an urban farm. Many urban farms are struggling to discover a formula for profitability. That includes nonprofit farms, like Fairview Gardens, which routinely rely on sales of fruits and vegetables for a portion of their annual revenue. But even though locally produced organic fruit is in high demand in urban areas, there are some things that should be taken into consideration before planting fruit trees.

Toby McPartland, farm manager at Fairview Gardens, tends to the dozen or so varieties of fruiting plants on the urban farm and has some strong opinions. “We have a system called alley cropping. We plant short fruit trees in rows, and then we grow annuals between the rows. It’s a simple way of getting the most production out of a small piece of land.”

While everyone who has ever visited Fairview can attest to the beauty of the system, it has some drawbacks. “People really connect to the aesthetics of these fruit trees, and that’s one of the great things we’ve got here. It’s a big part of our mission. But we’re also a production farm that’s working on models of efficiency.”

Although it might not be as “sexy,” Toby speculates that rows of radishes would be more profitable than the apples or pears. “The fruit trees produce for only a short season and then they just sit there taking up space,” says Toby. “Radishes can be replanted over and over again to keep generating income. For instance, we yanked out the asparagus this year. It just wasn’t paying its rent.”

Part of Fairview’s challenge is that it has changed its marketing plan over the years, but the perennial fruit trees have stayed the same. When the trees were planted twenty years ago, Fairview’s CSA had 50 members and the trees provided a small quantity of fruit to each member. Now, the CSA has 250 members and the trees can’t possibly provide enough for everyone. “We need to have fewer varieties and more of each variety,” explains Toby. “I would like to have less of the alley cropping and a little more intensive production. We don’t want to be a big monocropper, but we do want to be efficient.”

While the scale and diversity of fruit crops are a challenge at Fairview, fruit trees can still provide some great pluses for an urban farm, for housing developments, and for city parks departments. They require less labor in general than annual crops, and they don’t need to be weeded as often.

Five Urban-Friendly Fruit Trees

FIG. Fig trees require little maintenance and produce a large quantity of great-tasting, nutritious fruit that can fetch up to a dollar each at a local market. They prefer rich, well-drained soil but can survive in a wide range of soils, making them perfect for urban planting. Prune them in the winter to keep the fruit reachable without a ladder. Fig trees prosper in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5 and above, which make them a good choice for most U.S. cities.

POMEGRANATE. Somewhat prickly pomegranate plants are more like a bushy shrub than a tree. They make great hedges for bordering a farm plot and produce plenty of nutritious fruit at the same time. The plants like the sun, are drought tolerant, and do not like wet soil, so plant in raised beds, if possible. Pomegranates prosper in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7 through 10, which restricts their cultivation to cities with mild winters.

MULBERRY. Often considered a weed tree, the mulberry yields fruits that are just as tasty as blackberries. It is tolerant of drought, pollution, and poor soil—ideal qualities for an urban fruit tree. Prune to keep the fruit easier to harvest. Mulberry trees prosper in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 7 through 10, so, like the pomegranate, will do best in an urban setting with a mild winter.

ASIAN PEAR. These trees don’t need fertile soil and give shade to leafy crops like lettuce, protecting them from the searing summer sun, making them perfect for an urban farm. They are resistant to most common fruit-tree diseases and produce wonderfully crisp, delicious fruits. Asian pears can prosper in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 5 and above, making them suitable for cultivation in most U.S. cities.

KIWIFRUIT. A woody vine that produces nutritious, refreshing fruits, the kiwifruit tree needs a sturdy trellis to support its considerable weight during the growing season. To ensure adequate fruiting, plant male and female vines in close proximity to each other and keep the soil moist. New varieties can prosper in USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4 and above, making them ideal for most U.S. cities.