Bounty Hunters : Paid members of the organic plot prepare for their first year’s harvest of flowers, fruit and vegetables.

Located in the Ojai Valley, nestled below towering hills, is an unusual family garden that will have its first harvest later this fall.

Its numerous elevated beds, carved from the earth by hand and tool, support a wide variety of plant growth--including fruits, vegetables and flowers.

The garden’s founder, Lynn Malone, is eagerly anticipating the day when the family--a community family--will descend upon the small plot and begin sharing the garden’s bounty. A bounty that, according to plan, will provide all future produce needs for clan members.

The Ojai Valley Family Garden was born from the idea that members of a community--all with a common yearning for organic produce--could, through membership fees, support a group or an individual who would maintain the garden and raise their produce.

“It’s referred to as ‘Community Supported Agriculture, or CSA,’ ” Malone said.

Malone is a mother of four, and the children were a big part of her decision to start such an operation.

“It has a lot to do with being a mother who wants not to be working full time, but instead be at home to raise my children,” she said.

A friend first introduced Malone to the CSA concept and Malone has been working on the community family garden plan for the past several weeks.

Just outside the Malone family’s front door, a half-acre plot is being utilized to raise produce that will fulfill the weekly needs of about 10 families.

After the first of the year, the garden will be expanded by another half-acre, Malone said. “We will then be able to accommodate probably 20 families in all.”

“I would like to be able to serve as many people as want this,” Malone said. “I really feel it’s an important idea in these times.”

The CSA program, she said, first got its start at two locations along the Eastern seaboard.

“CSA has been recognized since 1986. It kind of relates to the old community gardens and co-ops--an idea that really was generated during the 1960s and ‘70s.”

Although many similar gardens and farms dot the U.S and Canada, the idea is relatively new to California.

Four “core members,” who pay a reduced membership fee, support Malone’s efforts by providing field preparation help, composting, greenhouse use to sprout seedlings and performing other tasks.

Malone, however will be the only member to draw wages from the operation.

“The whole idea is that the community of people that want this, support the person to do it for them,” Malone said.

She may be making money, but it is barely a third of what she was accustomed to earning at her previous job.

“It won’t be a whole lot, but what’s important is that I get to stay home with my children,” she said. “And I get to do something that I feel good about.”

There are four different memberships available, all with differing monthly fee amounts.

‘Harvest’ members ($35), though not expected to work in the field, pick their own produce.

‘Delivery’ members ($47) will have their weekly allotment delivered to their home.

The ‘Work Share’ member ($20) contributes a weekly minimum of 1 1/2 hours of work-time to the garden.

‘Contributing’ members hold one of the above memberships, but pay only a portion of the fee by offering other items to the garden or its members--such as tree-grown fruit from their back yards, etc.

“We will encourage people to come on Saturday mornings to harvest and make it a family project,” Malone said. Children will have their own small section to try their hands at gardening.

The garden’s first member to join, Karen Courington, said the garden is more than just an opportunity to serve her family wholesome produce.

“It’s a fantastic way to get people together and share some positive time,” she said.

* FYI

For information regarding membership to the Ojai Family Garden, call 646-6245. Or write: 811 N. Rice Road, Ojai 93023. Membership is open to all, including families outside the Ojai vicinity.