David Little - Little Organic Farm

How long have you been farming?
About 10 years

How did you become a farmer?
By luck and an accident, trying to help a friend keep his ranch. I often say I could write a book about that first year with all the challenges we faced; problems with the land, with the crops, with the people. Even after all that, I persevered and fell in love with it.

Any family history?
No, we were a third generation roofing company in Marin and I broke away from that.

What method of farming do you implement on your farm?
We do organic dry-farming, which is indigenous to the coast of California. It’s an ancient, or I should an older form of farming along the coast that goes back to the 1800s, not using much water.

What does “dry-farming” consist of?"
It's a soil tillage technique, the art of working the soil. Starting as early as possible when there is a lot of moisture in the soil. Working the ground. Creating a sponge-like environment so that the water comes from down below, up into the sponge. You press it down with a roller or some other implement to seal the top. You’re not pressing the whole thing down, just the top layer and it creates a seal so the water can’t evaporate and escape out, and saves it for long periods of time, hopefully all summer long and gives you the moisture you need.

What are the benefits and challenges of dry-farming?
You can do almost any kind of crop with dry farming. We’re doing cucumbers this year. Winter squash is always better, potatoes are always better and our favorite item is the tomato. You can do a lot with it. The draw back is lower yields. We get more favor but lower yields. So, until there’s a real knowledge of dry farming and how good it is, both nutritionally and flavor, the price won't reflect it. For example, an organic farmer that isn’t dry farming will get 40,000 pounds to an acre. I would be thrilled to get 10,000 pounds to an acre. They get 4 times the amount that I do at the same price. That’s a challenge.

Also, with dry farming you have less time. You have to work the ground, and hold the moisture, and then you have to plant. You can’t wait a month and go back and water or fertilize, you have to fertilize before you do it so you have soil preparation ahead of time. And then you have the timing factor. That’s why this year was so difficult. It went from total winter with lots of rain, 50 inches of rain and then it just stopped and turned 80 degrees and the wind blew, so the ground was drying out and you have all these multiple fields so you got to run around and work the ground up and plant before the moisture left. On one of them I was about two weeks late and the water dropped out, so we’re going to get lower yields because of that.

What are some of the environmental benefits to dry farming?
There are a lot of good things. One great benefit is water conservation. I get the most out of the rain that falls on my land and don't have to irrigate for the rest of the season. That’s how dry farming got started. When the immigrants moved here they didn’t have the means to drill wells. They had holding ponds for the dairy cows but they needed another source of water to be able to farm so that’s how they came up with dry farming.

What inspired you to make the leap from roofing to farming?
I hated roofing, and was looking for something else. And fell in love with this, not that it’s any easier. In fact, if I put the energy into roofing that I put into farming I’d be retired by now. It’s just the love of farming that keeps you going. You got to love it. Otherwise you wouldn’t do it.

What are some steps that our community can take to help support local farmers and sustainable agriculture?
I think education is the big key to ensuring that small farms and local farming make it. In addition to the benefits of fresher, more nutrient-rich produce, improved food security, and the environmental benefits of shorter transport, people need to understand the struggles of farming. You really are making a difference when you buy from your local farmer directly.

Any success stories you'd like to share?
I don’t know if there’s a big success story. I guess my biggest success is just being able to survive, and to have people really appreciate and acknowledge that we're growing some of the best potatoes they've ever had.

Years ago I visited a huge potato farm where a train came in and picked up the potatoes. I mean it was huge, the biggest potato farm in California. And I said “you guys are doing good.” And he said, “We’re still here, we’re still doing business.” It surprised me that with that big of an operation, with how long they’d been doing it, there was still some uncertainty about the operation.

What do you anticipate will be the future of farming?
I kind of see it that more small farms will play a bigger role. Just because small farms can come and go and they can adjust to different weather patterns. There has to be that educational, direct marketing kind of support and I think that’s happening. I see it happening. So it’s going to help the small farmers a lot. That’s the way I see the future, is a lot of small farms dotted around the country side. I hope that’s what the future is.

Do you really use that pitch fork?
It’s fun. It’s like Christmas. I still love digging by hand with a pitch fork. There’s nothing like it when they pop out of there. Each one you don’t know if it’s going to be a big potato or a bunch of small ones. You just don’t know until they pop out. And I always try to save a row or two and leave them so that I can continue to hand dig just for the fun of it before the rains come.


What are the benefits of shopping at farmers markets?
It’s better food. Whole Foods does a good job, Rainbow Market, Mollie Stones, they all do good jobs, but they can’t duplicate what you get at the farmers market. Which are products that haven’t been put into a cooler. Products that have been picked that morning or the night before and brought fresh. Or unique stuff that a store can’t afford to stock on its shelves. You can get some really great food here that you wouldn’t be able to get. But I think mainly it’s the cooler. Food that has been stored for long periods of time, it changes the nutritional dynamics as well as the flavor. Plus you get to meet the farmer that is farming it and hear a little of his story, or have a personal relationship, with potentially your neighbor. I think that is the benefit of shopping at a farmers market.

Would you recommend the life of a farmer?
I think it’s a personal choice. You have to love it. You really do. It fit my quirkiness. It fit my alternative outlook on life. No, I don’t even recommend it to my children. It’s my choice. I wish I had all the money in the world so I could do it for fun.