Lori Fiorovich of Crystal Bay Farm on Zils Road talks about farming techniques Wednesday to about 150 participants in the Eco Farm Bus Tour.

Under a gray sky that covered the region Wednesday, a group of farmers and organic gardening enthusiasts trudged through the thick, rich mud of Crystal Bay Farms, bundled against the cold, and listening raptly as Jeff and Lisa Fiorovich discussed their farming techniques.

Lisa Fiorovich walked the visitors, which numbered more than 150, through her strawberry patch and apple orchard, chatted about her compost operation and talked about the importance of bees in her pumpkin patch.

Throughout the talk, Fiorovich’s passion for her job was evident.

“When people find out we’re organic farmers, everyone says they want to be or do something like this,” she said.

The stop at Crystal Bay Farms was just one of four stops, all part of the Eco-Farms tour, a preamble to the wildly successful Eco-Farms conference, which since its inception almost three decades ago has drawn farmers and organic gardening enthusiasts from around the world.

“This is great, well worth it,” said Don Larson, assistant manager of Common Ground, a gardening education center in Palo Alto. “Nature teaches as well as any speaker does.”

The tour is seen as a tangible connection to the conference, said Amigo Cantisano, the bus tour leader.

“We wanted to give people a real life experience,” he said. “To see what farms are doing, and to see the warts and the good parts.”

Founded 28 years ago, the Eco-Farms Conference is the largest of its kind in the western part of the U.S., and oldest in the country, said Cantisano. It was developed by farmers looking for alternatives to using chemicals.

“It’s very nice,” said Sam Maruyama, from Honshu Island in Japan. “Every farm has a different technique. I’ve seen several methods I’d like to try.”

In addition to Crystal Bay Farms, the bus tour also stopped by Fuentes Berry Farm and Bruce Rider and Sons, both organic farms.

The sold-out conference is scheduled for today through Saturday at the Asilomar Conference Grounds in Pacific Grove. There will be dozens of workshops and more than 150 speakers from around the world. Among the topics will be food safety, immigration policy, and controversies over fair trade certification and water issues facing California farmers.

“It’s the people who come to the farm,” Lori Fiorovich said, when asked why she chose a difficult life of farming. “Some little kid telling his mom I’m the ‘pumpkin lady’ five months after he tours my farm — I don’t know, I feel kind of like a super hero.”

•••

For information on the Eco-Farms Conference and tour, visit www.eco-farm.org.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

*Photos by Tarmo Hannula*

(Published in 1/24/08 edition)

Share on Facebook