Alhambra Valley Farm

This has been a long week, with Don gone to L.A. for work. The days start early (5 a.m. on workdays & 6 a.m. on home days). Fortunately, long before Don's unexpected trip, I had arranged a field trip with Amara's preschool, Little World Montessori, to our local farm just down the road. Our field trip meant a fun break in the middle of the week as it was something to look forward to and something to distract the girls from them missing their papa.

I have written about Alhambra Valley Farm in a previous blog post, describing how much our family loves visiting the domestic and more exotic animals that reside there.  We eagerly anticipate their summer farm stand where we can purchase their fruits and vegetables. Their olive oil, which they grow and press, has long been used in our kitchen. That we are fans our this little local farm is obvious. So it was especially exciting to take the little people from Amara's preschool to visit and get to see it up close and personal and where we got to learn about the farm's history and see some of the behind the scenes, daily workings of the farm.

Tom Powers bought the land about twelve years ago. He is growing vegetables including artichoke, tomatoes, swiss chard, peppers, olives, tomatoes and much more. He told us he recently got a sweet puppy, Diego, to help with the coyotes (we were sad to learn that two sheep were dinner to coyotes the night prior.)

Big Mama Lama (that really is her name!)

As a life long animal lover, I was pleased to learn that all of the animals on the farm were rescues. That Tom has taken them in is a reflection of his kindness. We got to meet Big Mama Lama and her two 'babies'; Baby Boy and Baby Girl, a bunch of sheep and a goat and of course, the emu. The children were giddy to see them so close! And a little frightened too!

Big Mama giving kisses to Tom. That's trust!

Daddy Lama and the One Lone Goat!

Some of the sheep.

Big Mama Lama was gracious enough to give me a smooch too!

                       

Tom telling us about the crops he is growing.

This is the farms water source.

Somehow shells ended up on the farm. Here is Amara with
her treasures.

Some of the Little World Montessori Crew.

Part of the olive oil pressing/holding process.

Swiss chard.

Peppers.

Any good farm has a healthy compost pile!

One of the many owl houses. They usually house here in winter
and help with the gopher problems.

Havana was over the moon to be on a field trip with
the bigger little people.

Young olive trees.

Feedig the emu corn.

The little ones all seemed to enjoy their visit to Alhambra Valley Farm. As a parent, I think it's crucial that our young ones know where food comes from. Some of the other parents also have gardens, as do we. But our own little garden can only produce a miniscual amount compared to this modest farm. Which is why I wanted my girls, and the children at her school, to get an understanding of where our food comes from and what growing food entails.  It is never too soon to teach our little ones this important life lesson.

But it was clear, that the animals were the highlight of this field trip. It was a little scary but exciting to get up close to the big lamas and emu. Some kids got close and some stayed behind! And for this big kid, I was overjoyed to get a kiss from a lama. That made my day, made my soul child smile and helped the week go alittle smoother. And the next time we pass by the farm, we will have a better appreciation and stronger connection with the animals and land. How wonderful!

Alhambra Valley

"Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books." John Lubbock



I love the evening fog carpet that rolls in from the Bay in warmer months.





Spring brings the vibrant California Poppy.





About a year or two ago I saw film crews out here filming On the Road.


I love the area we are currently calling home. We are blessed to have such open space, free of concrete and yet be close enough to the trappings of the urban jungles called Berkeley, Oakland and San Francisco. When driving through the valley its hard to believe I am in the East Bay. The area looks more like Sonoma or Mendicino Counties.

In researching Alhambra Valley and Briones Regional Park, I discovered that the Briones family owned the Briones Valley Rancho which the park now calls home. Cattle ranching was the predominant land use in most the valley, followed by orchards and vineyards. In the early part of the last century, orchards were common in the valley with pear being the major crop. Cattle still graze but nothing like it was a hundred years ago. And orchards are far and few, mostly on private residences for private use. One exception is the Alhambra Valley Ranch (http://www.alhambravalley.com/) which grows olives and has a small organic farm. In the summer months they set up a farm stand on weekends. We have gotten to know the owner and farmers and enjoy seeing them on our weekly visits.



The back roads are so much nicer than the freeway and not that much longer, so the girls and I will often drive Alhambra Valley Road to Martinez, Walnut Creek or Lafayette/Orinda. Bear Creek Road is one of the roads off Alhambra Valley that we also often take. We will often leave early for our destination so we can see some of our 'friends' who live along the way, at one of the many stables and small ranches.

While we love the horses, we really enjoy seeing the two donkeys and two ponies that live on Bear Creek Road. They aren't always out, so we have to pull over and look real hard. The girls are thrilled when we see them. Just the other day, one of the little donkey was right at the fence along the side of the road! I was so thrilled I had my camera with me!

Just down the road, on the turn to Happy Valley Road, is a large field that occasionally has goat. There is a local 'Goat Man' who takes his goats all over the East Bay to graze and we get so excited when we see them in one of their many spots. They seem to frequent this corner field a few times a year so we are always on the lookout. This past weekend, there they were! Havana was the only one with me and was very clear that she wanted to "get out and see the goats" up close!





The Alhambra Valley is a special place here in the overpopulated and overbuilt Bay Area. I know many prefer to live on a crowded street and be in walking distance of a coffee shop or grocery store. But I would much rather hear the wind, turkey and more often, silence, I would rather see green, open space, than office buildings, freeways and stores. The city has it's appeal.. But for me, and for our family, this suits us just fine. I can do with walking to the store. I can't live without Mother Nature.