Hunter Orchards

FARMLAND: 20 acres in Grenada, about 300 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market

FARM HISTORY/PHILOSOPHY: John and Kirsten discovered their love of gardening while starting a homestead near the Siskiyou Mountains in Northern California. After purchasing Hunter Orchards in 1989, they immediately converted the orchard (formerly farmed conventionally) to organic.

John and Kirsten are committed to consumer education through face-to-face interactions with the people that eat the food they grow. They say the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market gives them energy for their intense season of growing and marketing.

The truck that Hunter Orchards drives the long way to San Francisco from Siskiyou County is powered by biodiesel.

SOIL: Sandy loam built with compost, cover crop, crop stubble, crop rotation, organic fertilizers, aged manure, and raw organic matter.

WEED CONTROL: Hand weeding and machine cultivation, mulching, and flame weeding.

PEST MANAGEMENT: Releasing beneficial insects as well as creating the appropriate habitats for beneficials, organic pesticides, pheromone disruption, and crop rotation all help keep pest populations in check.

WATER USE: On-site wells feed drip and T-tape sprinkler irrigation.

ORGANIC CERTIFICATION: CCOF since 2003 and previously from 1986-1993