Back to Our Roots

The Hansen Agricultural Learning Center at Santa Paula’s Faulkner Farm will host a dirtapalooza of sorts Saturday.

FarmFest 2000, aimed at educating the public about agriculture in Ventura County, will offer exhibits, demonstrations, markets, food booths, live music, petting zoo and tours--with lots and lots of farm stuff.

It will be the first non-Halloween venture at the site of the annual Pumpkin Patch. Shari Klittich of the Hansen Trust, which has transformed the farm into a learning center, said, “We want this to be a learning experience for people to find out about agriculture. We want them to learn of the business aspect of farming. A lot of farmers do this to feed their families, and sometimes decisions must be based on business realities and not necessarily emotion.”

The emotional part of all this has to do with the widespread success of the SOAR slow-growth measure throughout the county, while the business end of things is explained by the fact that agriculture is a $937-million industry as of 1998, when the last figures were compiled.

Faulkner Farm is a prime location for FarmFest. Santa Paula is in the Western Garden Book’s Zone 21--the thermal belt of Southern California--and is one of the world’s prime citrus climates.

Other crops also thrive at the farm, including avocados and cilantro--lots of it. Just about any part of the 27-acre farm not planted in cilantro will be part of FarmFest.

Even today, the comment made by George Washington Faulkner to his wife in 1876 is no understatement: “We will have to begin at the foot of the ladder and grow up with the country, but I think in a few years we can have a beautiful home if all goes well.”

The Faulkner House, a restored Victorian mansion built in 1894, exceeded expectations and is officially designated Ventura County’s Landmark No. 1. Tours of the two-story house, which is patrolled by two happy cats, will be given during FarmFest.

The grounds are nice too. The well-manicured garden is filled with roses, irises and jacarandas, and a healthy wisteria vine grips a trellis. Several examples of salvia, cupea, white marguerites and pincushion flowers thrive in the areas surrounding the wooden gazebo and lush green lawn.

The nearby farmers market will feature local produce grown in school gardens throughout the county. Students will hawk not only the fruits of their labors but also flowers and potted plants. The schools will keep the proceeds.

Food booths will be plentiful for those getting the munchies looking at all the farm products.

There also will be demonstration gardens, some with vegetables and others with herbs and flowers.

These specialized plots are tended by master gardeners, many of them retirees who took their hobby a step further. They will share their expertise and their techniques for turning a brown thumb green and starting a garden.

The 4-H Club and Future Farmers of America will provide a number of critter pens, featuring pigs, goats and other animals.

The big red Faulkner barn, built in the 1880s, will be the site of demonstrations, including weaving and spinning, along with booths and agriculturally themed exhibits by local artists.

One exhibitor will be Bruce Freeman of the Growing Academy, a summer program aimed at high school students that blends art, agricultural practices and occupational training. Freeman will be seeking applicants for his next six-week Growing Academy program slated to begin June 26.

FarmFest is free, with parking for up to 300 cars along Briggs Road.

“One of our major programs is to develop school gardens and to develop an awareness of what it is to grow a crop,” Klittich said. “Our aim is to benefit and sustain agriculture in Ventura County. Ultimately, we want to make this a destination for school field trips as well as families on a weekend outing.”

DETAILS

FarmFest 2000 at the Faulkner Farm, 14292 Telegraph Road, Santa Paula, Saturdya, 10 a.m to 4 p.m.; free; 525-9293.