Hoes Down Festival Report

I had a great time at the Hoes Down Festival this past weekend.

Located in the beautiful Capay Valley in Yolo County, California, Full Belly Farm is one of northern California’s most beautiful and successful organic farms.  Nestled among rolling hills with a creek running through it, the 100-acre farm was founded 20 years ago by four partners, who still own and operate the farm today. 

As if running a farm weren’t enough work, every fall the farmers open their doors to the general public for the Hoes Down Festival. Imagine holding an open house and having thousands of people show up at your door, walk around your yard and trample through your vegetable garden and flowerbeds. 

Now in its 18th year, the festival features farm tours, agricultural workshops, live music, a farmers’ market, great food, and a large area devoted to children’s activities. Since Full Belly Farm delivers food all over the Bay Area through its Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) project, there are plenty of visitors who make the 90 mile drive up from the San Francisco (and even from San Diego!).  Thus, the farm offers overnight camping.  As you enter the farm you drive into the first orchard on the right, park and set up your tent right next to your car.  From what I could see there were over a hundred cars parked around ours. 

After we set up camp we headed up the dirt road to begin the festival.  The first area you see as you approach the farm buildings is the Children’s Area on the left. This area includes a children’s entertainment stage, petting barns, hay fort, water roller coaster, games, and arts and crafts.

The water roller coaster--a metal roller conveyer belt that gives kids a nice rattly, bumpy ride and then dumps then into a big tank of water at the end--looked appealing on this hot day.  But my kids headed straight for the apple-bobbing tub. 
After getting cooled off and eating more than their fair share of apples, it was over to the hay fort, a mountain of hay bales constructed with plenty of tunnels and crawl spaces for kids to hide in.

Then it was on to sheep petting and shearing, which we in the audience clearly enjoyed more than the sheep did.  Adjacent to the sheep barns were artisans (“Sheep to Shawl”) demonstrating how the wool is spun into yarn and used for making crafts and weaving.

While my kids were hiding in the hay and painting gourds, I joined Andrew Brait, one of the farm’s four partners, on a tour of the farm.  Andrew told us that the farm has 50 employees, of which 35 are full-time, year-round workers. Full Belly Farm has made this conscious commitment to their labor crew to break the cycle of seasonal work and readily acknowledges their skilled crew’s contribution to the farm’s stability and success.

In addition to their fruits, vegetables, nuts, herbs, and flowers (some 80 different crops), Andrew noted that “farmers are our other crop.”  The farm has 4-6 interns at any given time.  An internship requires a one-year commitment, often followed by an apprenticeship and master program for those interested in staying on longer.

Pastured sheep, chickens and cows are an important component of the Full Belly eco-system. Rather than relying on chemical fertilizers, the farm uses animals as mowers, digesters and fertilizers. We saw some of the farm’s 250 sheep in a melon field that had been recently harvested.  Surrounded by an electric fence, the sheep would eat all of the remaining plant material in 3 days and the healthy bacteria in their guts would inoculate and build nutrients into the soil.

After the tour it was time for lunch: hamburgers, Full Belly grilled vegetables and a Wolavers’ organic Brown Ale.  For dessert--fresh peach galette with my favorite ice cream, Straus Family Creamery.

My one complaint about the event is the amount of time I spent waiting in line for food.  But given the sheer number of people in attendance, it was understandable.  I can’t even imagine the amount of work that goes into producing an event for this many people.  Considering everything, I was impressed by how smoothly everything ran.  There was a lot to do, plenty of good food to eat, and everyone seemed happy to be there.   It’s encouraging to see so many people interested in seeing a working farm and supporting rural life.

If I come again, and I certainly hope to, I would like to spend more time exploring the surrounding Capay Valley.  And rather than parking in the overnight campground, surrounded by hundreds of cars, I will park my car in the regular lot and choose a “walk-in” site, away from other people, closer to the hills and creek.

All in all it was a spectacular weekend.  The beautiful drive through golden hills dotted with California oak trees with turkey vultures and hawks circling overhead.  The sound of coyotes yipping during the middle of the night.  Roosters waking me at dawn.  Because the orchard we were sleeping in is also used as grazing grounds for the sheep and cows, when I went to wake my daughters in the morning I noticed a large cow pie right outside the door flap of our tent.  As I looked around, I also noticed quite a few sheep droppings underfoot.  Welcome to the farm!

I have no romantic illusions about farm life.  (Well, okay, maybe a little.  I have this fantasy of one day owning my own dairy goats and producing fresh goat milk and cheese.)  I have a lot of respect for farmers and their unwavering commitment to their land and animals, day in and day out. 

A huge thank you to Andrew Brait, Paul Muller, Judith Redmond, and Dru Rivers of Full Belly Farm, for opening your arms in welcome and sharing the bounty of your fall harvest with us.  Thanks to Judith for stopping during a very busy day to answer my 6-year-old’s questions. (Q: What is your favorite crop to grow?  A: Okra).  Thanks to the barista (sorry, I didn’t get your name) at Café Mam for making those hot cappuccinos for us on that cold, early Sunday morn, even as your own breakfast sat for an hour, cold and untouched, on the table behind you. 

I know this event would not be possible without a huge staff of dedicated volunteers.  Thanks to all of them for feeding us, entertaining us, teaching us crafts and showing us how the farm worked.  Thanks to Taber Ward, of Full Belly Farm, and Dean Heyerly and his daughter Logan, of Goats Are Us Farm, for teaching me about goat care and letting me milk my first goat!

And lastly, thanks to my sister for inviting me to this event and to her and my brother-in-law for the use of the “circus” tent which comfortably slept all 8 of us.

Comments

[Kirk]

Hi Angie - Talk about living the organic/slow food lifestyle.....you have my admiration! I once went on a country "scavenger hunt" in Panoka, Alberta, Canada, and will never forget it!

[Angie]

Hi Kirk--

It was fun and an easy thing to do for one weekend. But I really admire the farmers who work there every day to produce such amazing food.

[Beth]

Fun photos! It looks like you had a great time. Northern California is so pretty and a whole other world from the south.

[Angie]

Beth--

Yes, it is like two different states. I had a really hard time adjusting to life in Southern California after moving here from the Bay Area. And as you can see, I'll take any excuse to go back up and visit.