Name of Farm: Lagier Ranches Farmers: John Lagier Address: 16101 S. Murphy Rd.
Escalon CA 95320 Phone: 209.982.5618 Email:info@lagierranches.com Website:lagierranches.com
History
John Lagier has farming in his blood. His maternal great-grandfather came to California in the 1870s and began farming wheat and barley and raising mules on land in Escalon. Since irrigation was not generally available then, the wheat and barley were dry-farmed, using a tillage technique that made best use of the moisture in the soil and the high water table. John's grandfather started a cattle ranch on the same Escalon property, and John's mother and two sisters, born on the farm, were all involved in farming as well. On his father's side, John's grandfather planted almost 20 acres of almond trees in Ripon in the early 1900s. John's parents met and married and carried on the family tradition of farming and tending almond orchards.
In the 1950s, during the post-war period, farming families like the Lagiers began to make the switch to chemical agriculture. When John was an agriculture student, he was taught that our population growth was going to exceed our food supply. As John puts it, "that was something that was used as a way of marketing to farmers: 'hey, we need to feed the world, here's a set of tools and here's how you're going to do it.' You will get higher yields and eliminate lots of issues by using petrochemicals."
John himself started farming in 1979. For many years he practiced conventional farming, including use of pesticides, herbicides, and chemical fertilizers. It wasn't until he himself got ill and his wife was diagnosed with leukemia in the mid-80s that he got what he says was a "wake-up call" and began to learn about organic farming. In 1992 he began making the transition to organic farming, and by 1996 was 100 percent organic.
John farms in Escalon, in San Joaquin county, about 95 miles from San Francisco (about 12 miles past Stockton). He lives with his wife Carol, and has two children, Jack and Cecelia.
Products
The farming system at Lagier Ranches now includes cover cropping with vetch and other nitrogen-fixing plants, composting, building the soil with organic amendments, and hanging owl boxes to attract predatory owls to eat the gophers that are a recurrent pest in his orchards. The farm has become known for its wonderful almonds, cherries, berries, and other 'small fruit.' Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market shoppers also know his stand for the delicious jams, almond butter, and pies that Lagier Ranches make in their on-site kitchen.
John farms a total of 200 acres, 80 of which he owns himself. He recently began looking for a way to make better use of some acreage that has been tied up in grape vineyards that have not been financially viable. He pulled down the vineyard and decided to try his hand at some new crops. He had been buying flour for pies and other baked products from Giusto's, a South San Francisco mill that specializes in organic flour. He began to think about growing wheat on that land. Wheat is an excellent crop for rotating land that has been in vineyards -- it will clean up undesirable weeds, draw moisture out of the ground, and begin the process of soil rebuilding. John approached Giusto's about growing wheat for their organic flour, and ended up seeding his first crop - 50 acres -- of a hard red winter wheat called "Express."
In order to sell his wheat to Giusto's, it needs to meet Giusto's minimum requirements for protein percentage (13 percent). It is the protein content in wheat that enables it to be made into bread. Low protein wheat can make delicious biscuits, cakes, and sweets, but to be useful for bread-baking, it must be high-protein. If John's wheat doesn't meet the minimum protein percentage, he's made back-up arrangements to sell it to a neighboring organic dairy rancher as hay for the cows.
Lagier has also planted 28 acres of sweet corn, and has small plantings of specialty fruits including paw-paws (a tree-fruit often called custard apple), Bronx grapes, boysenberries, and currants. And of course now is cherry season -- so come down to the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market and try some of John's delicious cherries. View a recipe for chocolate-dipped cherries.
Lagier Ranches products are available at the Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market. Retail outlets that sell Lagier's products are: Rainbow Grocery,
Real Foods,
Whole Foods,
El Cerrito/Berkeley Natural Groceries,
Good Earth,
Sacramento Natural Foods and
O'Brians Markets.
3 oz good quality semi-sweet or bittersweet chocolate, such as Scharffen Burger
parchment paper
Preparation:
Melt the chocolate in a double boiler over barely simmering water. Allow to cool a bit.
Dip cherries in chocolate one by one, and place on parchment paper on a plate or cookie sheet. If the chocolate gets too hard to dip into, reheat gently over barely simmering water.
Place dipped cherries in the fridge to cool until the chocolate is hard. Serve on a plate or platter, with a small bowl for stems and pits. Enjoy!
Interview by Jessica Prentice, Director of Education Programs, CUESA Photography by Tyler Blank, Garden Market Manager, CUESA and Barry Jan; portrait of John Langier by TYLER
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