THIS FARMER GROWS, PICKS AND DELIVERS

Published on July 30, 2004

© 2004- The Press Democrat

BYLINE:    JANET PARMER

FOR THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

PAGE: P 2

When Deborah Walton started selling her vegetables at local farm markets she noticed that many of the vendors weren't local growers.

They came from Watsonville, Lodi and Visalia with crops that ripen early because of their hot climates, and Walton realized her veggies, grown in Two Rock's cool weather fog belt, couldn't compete.

Seizing on her years of marketing and advertising experience, Walton began seeking a niche to fit her desire to become a post-retirement working farmer.

She's now in her second season delivering bags of fresh vegetables on a weekly basis to 40 customers.

Walton, who owned a Santa Rosa advertising firm, moved to Two Rock three years ago with her husband, artist Tim Schaible. She planned to use their 28 acres adjacent to the Coast Guard base for some sort of farming or ranching.

Since nothing but weeds were growing on the former grazing land, they named their property Canvas Ranch, as in a blank canvas ripe with possibilities.

Her delivery business is called a community service agriculture program.

Walton and her ranch manager, Courtney Delello, who has a master's degree in such programs from Humboldt State University, do all of the seed selection, planting, weeding, thinning, pruning and picking themselves.

They package the produce twice a week and drive around Marin and Sonoma counties making deliveries.

Although it's demanding work, Walton wouldn't have it any other way.

``I wanted to make this pay for itself,'' she said. ``I'm not a fourth-generation farmer who inherited the land.''

In addition to selling the vegetables she raises, Walton has old English babydoll sheep, which she leases or sells to Napa- and Sonoma-area vineyards, whose managers want them to munch weeds instead of using pesticides. She also raises cashmere goats, which provide wool and milk for cheese.

Walton's ingenuity received national recognition this month in two magazines.

Her diminutive sheep were featured in Gourmet for their ability to banish vineyard weeds, and Fortune featured Walton as an example of a retiree who is pursuing an unorthodox line of work.

While she's thrilled with the recognition, it doesn't glamorize her daily chores, which involve communicating with subscribers by e-mail, harvesting produce and planting new varieties of vegetables and flowers.

Like most farmers, she faces challenges like gopher invasions, a lack of consistent heat for peppers and tomatoes, and animals chewing through irrigation lines.

Delello and Walton would like to gradually expand the business, but recognize their limits in providing quality vegetables for their subscribers.

While preparing her graduate thesis, Delello learned that an acre of cultivated food crops can be expected to feed 20 average-sized families and one person can comfortably care for 1 1/2 acres.

``There's a question of how much can the well take and our machinery take. Courtney can manage what we've got now,'' said Walton, who prepared for her career change by taking classes in sustainable agriculture at Santa Rosa Junior College.

Canvas Ranch delivers produce once a week from June through Thanksgiving to clients in Petaluma, Rohnert Park and three Santa Rosa locations, and once a week to clients in Marin County, including stops in Mill Valley, Novato and Greenbrae.

In addition to the canvas bag stuffed with unusual varieties of carrots, squash, beans and herbs, Walton and Delello offer add-on options for customers.

The basic weekly delivery service costs $18, and for an extra $3 a week, they'll include six pale green Araucana eggs. For $6 extra a week, subscribers receive a bouquet of fresh flowers, and $8 more pays for locally grown fruit.

Since Canvas Ranch doesn't have a fruit orchard yet, the women purchase fruit from local growers, although they are harvesting strawberries and raspberries for the bags.

Recently, the farm added a once-a-month package of honey produced on the farm and locally produced cheese from either Bellwether Farms, located just a few miles away, or Redwood Hill goat cheese.

While summer crops are being harvested now, the women are doing succession planting to ensure ripe vegetables for October and November. They have one greenhouse and will be installing a second to help extend the growing season.

When they cease deliveries in November, they'll begin perusing seed catalogs for unusual vegetables for next season.

``That's the cool thing about being a small farmer,'' Delello said. ``I'm totally happy flipping through seed catalogs and sitting by the fire.''

Walton also offers farm tours and will be inviting the public to spend a day tending and picking crops.

For further information about Canvas Ranch, call 766-7171 or log onto www.canvasranch.com.

You can reach Correspondent Janet Parmer at 782-9130 or jhparmer@comcast.net.

PHOTO: 1 by JEFF KAN LEE / The Press Democrat

Manager Courtney Delello and owner Deborah Walton of Canvas Ranch with a bag of produce and flowers for delivery to subscribers in either Marin or Sonoma county.

Keywords: PROFILE AGRICULTURE BIOGRAPHY

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