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!
