History
David Little grew up in San Anselmo, in California's Marin County. He is a third generation Marin roofer, and made his living for many years as a contractor specializing in sidewall shingle. He began to learn about farming when he agreed to help a friend figure out how to make money on his ranch near Tomales in the West Marin countryside. He ended up moving into the ranch when his friend passed away. He fell in love with living in the country, and he started looking for ways to support himself and his family on the ranch. He knew that if he could support himself on the land, he could continue to lease it.
David started farming potatoes that year, in 1995. He chose potatoes because the land around Tomales had historically been used to farm potatoes and was well suited to the crop. The land is flat, and there is not a lot of irrigation available. Potatoes also require a low initial investment -- they can be planted for about $1000 an acre. (By comparison, vineyards require about $10,000 an acre to plant, and strawberries require about $6,000 an acre to plant.) Also, David was starting from scratch and potatoes don't require a lot of equipment.
During his first year of farming, David was on a steep learning curve. He borrowed equipment, but it was all new to him. The first time he drove a discing machine, he didn't know how to use it. Nevertheless, driving that disc, turning over the dirt as the seagulls followed eating the earthworms that were uncovered, David "fell in love with farming." Tractors proved particularly nettlesome that first year. He got one tractor stuck, then got another tractor stuck. Then he borrowed a big tractor from friend, and got that one stuck. In the process of trying to get it unstuck, its engine got destroyed. Things went downhill from there. He had a business partner who got kicked off the land they were leasing, then tried to steal all of David's seed potatoes. David took action and was able to get some seed potatoes back, and ended up having a good crop of potatoes. He sold them at the Berkeley farmers market, and made a decent return for his first year farming. He caught the farming bug, and next year planted a few more acres of potatoes. Each year he would look for virgin land and plant a few more acres of potatoes. He continued to spend part of the year as a roofing contractor, and the rest of the year farming.
He now leases about 20 acres for farming, and owns three tractors. He works as a contractor during the planting season, about 3 months of the year, keeping that business going as a back up to his farming. He lives on the rented ranch with his wife Beverly Fox and their two children and their dog Dottie Mae. Beverly runs Emily B's Deli in Tomales. Their son Sage Little Fox is 13 years old, and daughter Caressa Willow Mae Little Fox is 9 years old.
David practices dry-farming, an old-fashioned tillage technique that creates better flavor and conserves water. In a nutshell, the ground is tilled as soon as possible in the spring after the rainy season, and then the top surface of the soil is flattened using a roller. This holds moisture in the earth. He plants into that moist soil, and only needs to irrigate if something throws off his timing and the soil isn't moist enough. Then he will use drip-lines to get the plants established.
David Little's potatoes are certified organic. He seeks out virgin land that is easily certifiable and then leases it for a season. After harvest, he lets the land rest for at least three years before considering leasing it again. Thus far, he has never planted in the same soil more than once.
Products
David grows more than 20 varieties of potatoes on about 16 out of the 20 acres he is leasing. The varieties include Yukon Golds, German Butterballs, Yellow Finn; Russian Banana, Rose Finn aApple, French Fingerling, White Rose, Russets, and All-Blue. David also grows an acre of tomatoes including dry-farmed Early Girls, and an acre of onions and garlic. On his remaining acre he experiments with different crops, including different varieties of winter squash, ornamental corn, and artichokes.
David's potatoes are harvested in the fall and stored in a barn on the property where he lives. He will sell potatoes until some time in March. He notes that potatoes are a living organism, and that some of yellow-fleshed potatoes get better in storage because the sugar turns to starch and then that flavor comes through.
CUESA recently took members of the public on a farm tour to three farms in Marin, including Little Organic Farm.
Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market on Saturdays and Thursdays; Marin Civic Center market on Thursdays and Sundays. You may also find David's potatoes at the Whole Foods market in Sebastopol and some Real Foods stores.
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