May 10, 2001

• Ian Sigman used to run a truck farm at the Mattole River Resort a couple of miles downstream of Honeydew, selling his produce at the Garberville farmer’s market and through a subscription system known as "community-supported agriculture." But he found that the sale of fresh produce was rarely profitable, and the expectations of his subscribers (who paid a fixed weekly fee for a share of whatever the farm produced through the season) higher than he could meet. "It caused undue stress on the farmer," he recalls ruefully. So last year, he and his wife Melissa launched a business growing peppers and pickling them, following a recipe that has been in Melissa’s family for six generations. Last fall they produced 90 twelve-jar cases and have sold all but four. A twelve-ounce jar sells for $3 wholesale and $5 retail. Ian appreciates the simplicity of growing one crop instead of a dozen, and the long shelf-life of pickled peppers. They plan to double the area they plant this year, to a full acre. "Fresh peppers are barely worth picking," says Ian, "but the pickles have a lot of value."

• Lumber milling of various scales survives in the Mattole. Rancher Bob Stansberry cuts his own logs to order on a mobile mill, selling rough-cut lumber at custom sizes, mainly in the watershed. Depending on the dimensions, he can produce one to two thousand board-feet per day, working by himself. Several other landowners have mobile mills and similar operations. Near the headwaters, Seth Johannsen operates a redwood shingle and lumber mill, processing wood from his own land and his neighbors’. And Whitethorn Construction mills local hardwoods, kiln-dries them, and re-mills them into flooring. Lately, their three-person hardwoods division has been buying most of its wood as kiln-dried lumber from the Wild Iris Project of the Institute for Sustainable Forestry in Piercy, which buys logs from southern Humboldt and northern Mendocino counties. Some building contractors add even more value by using local lumber in their construction projects.

• Whitethorn grower Larry Ogden exemplifies another way of adding value to a raw product: producing it organically. He and his partner Janet raise berries, melons and carrots on their farm near Thorn Junction. Currently, they sell their produce at the Redway and Garberville farmers’ markets and at a roadside stand in their neighborhood. Last year they sold 350 cases of strawberries for $2.50 per pint basket — a price that will rise this year to $3. Soon they’ll also be offering seasonal subscriptions to families in southern Humboldt. They’ve chosen their crops to match the availability of irrigation water from the river, planting only early crops of carrots, cultivating early-bearing varieties of strawberries and raspberries, and keeping the melon patch relatively small. That way they are able to use less water when the river is low in August and September . Recently, Larry and Janet have increased their flock of laying hens to 160 birds, which range freely within an electric-fence enclosure and roost in a converted travel trailer (photo). Their eggs have fetched $3 a dozen because the chickens are cage-free. But as their production increases, Janet and Larry will lower the price somewhat to make it easier to sell all the eggs they expect from their flock – about ten dozen a day. Although Larry spends half his time farming during the growing season, he still must work as a carpenter to make ends meet. He often puts in a half-day on the farm in the summer before swinging a hammer for another six or eight hours. Still he remains upbeat. "You’ve got to be optimistic," he says. "Besides, spring is an optomistic time of year."


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Table of Contents for Mattole Restoration Newsletter, Issue 16 - Spring/Sumer 2001