It has been an interesting exercise over the past year to identify the issues affecting local agritourism. I always come back to Northern San Diego County's challenges to create viable sources of supplemental income for organic farmers. I have observed that Inland areas, such as our own Fallbrook, have a more difficult time building a robust agritourism program than do coastal areas and those within an hour's drive of San Diego. Location, location, location!

I get it. Being close to downtown San Diego is a real leg up! For those interested in heading north, they choose to focus on the Pacific Ocean, a beacon of beauty, a natural draw, the California dream destination. I saw "Grease" a dozen times, and I really do get it. Well, we don't have the ocean in Fallbrook or Bonsall or Rainbow. What we do have is the rustic, bucolic beauty of our fertile pastures and majestic hilltops, where we work hard to grow the most beautiful produce in a tranquil subtropical microclimate.

KooL Ranch is a certified-organic pomegranate farm, and the advancement of local, organic agriculture is our great hope. But, you can't sit on your hands and get the work done. So, we are going to work with the Fallbrook Chamber of Commerce and other stakeholders to get things moving. We like to think that this work will bring attention to growers in our own community.

Now is the time, we believe, to develop the Fallbrook Organic Trail, as we call it, to afford local visitors and tourists the rich experience of a day in The Friendly Village and beyond. It can forge productively, perhaps, with the Bonsall Organic Trail and the Rainbow Organic Trail, our best-case scenario.

San Diego County has the largest volume of growers that work other jobs to keep their farms up and running. We want to support growers that want to be full-time farmers.

Until next time, bon appetit from the growing mecca of De Luz Canyon!

by Linda R Antonioli
OrganicHotspots.org
FallbrookOrganicTrail.com

As an organic grower, I have had the great pleasure of visiting over the past couple weeks almost half a dozen farms of varying sizes throughout Northern San Diego County  that are engaged in agritourism. Traveling the bucolic backroads of Northern San Diego County has been an important part of my fact-finding and personal "enlightenment" as Chair of the new Organic Agritourism Committee, CCOF Pacific Southwest Chapter (CA Certified Organic Farmers). CCOF members represent about 300 farms and other members across the Pacific Southwest region, with our Chapter based in San Diego County.

Both organic and conventional farms number about 6,000 in San Diego County, and there is an opportunity for interested growers to earn additional income for their working farms through agritourism. These options cover a broad spectrum, such as weddings, cooking classes, art courses, farm-to-table dinners, U-pick harvesting, farm stands, yoga, nature walks, corporate events, tours, and even overnight "glamping."

San Diego's water is the most expensive in the world, and pure, growing methods free of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides create additional expenses for certified-organic farmers. Agritourism can mean survival for some farms. The CCOF Pacific Southwest Chapter wants to help. Through farm assessments and other support, the Chapter will work to assist interested growers. Information will be forthcoming in the months ahead through social media, mailings, and Chapter meetings and events, including our next meeting in April 2018 (date/location tbd).

This new blog is something I have been encouraged to do for some time, as a way to convey timely information about agritourism that is centered on member farms, including upcoming events, and updates for the public.

I think, perhaps, at the heart of it all, our Committee's motto should be, "COME AND MEET THE FOOD YOU EAT!"

Until next time.