De Luz Farms and Nursery
 | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  | |  |
Our greenhouse transplant production
Inland Empire CSA
Community Supported Agriculture
Back in 1997 Melodee and I were looking for property in the De Luz area of
Temecula. We really liked the area as it reminded me of upstate New York
where I grew up and Melodee of Utah where she grew up. We found an
older, declining avocado grove on twelve acres that had a great view, and
was a perfect site for a new home.
At the time the grove was split about 50-50 between avocados and star ruby
grapefruit. The avocados were suffering from a common California avocado
disease called root rot. The disease slowly kills the trees until they need to
be removed.
Also at that time I was working as a District Manager for Home Depot and
Melodee was a Call Center Manager for Home Depot. I must admit that I took
a lot of jokes about my part time job as a farmer.
Learning to be an Organic Grower
As the years went on we seemed to enjoy the time we spent on our farm
working much more than time on our “real” jobs. During those first several
years I became obsessed trying to stop the disease killing our avocado
trees. At the time, the grove was grown conventionally, meaning the use of
chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides was okay. The more research I
did the more it occurred to me that perhaps the way the trees were grown
was the problem. In 2000 we converted all of our property to Organic
growing practices. We stopped using all chemical fertilizers, herbicides and
chemical pesticides. Slowly, many of the trees responded using manure,
compost and other organic growing practices. We also noticed how much
better the fruit tasted and looked. Many of the problems we had
encountered growing the conventional (chemical) way were no longer a
problem. We started to bring in bees every year to pollinate and it has made
a tremendous difference.
And now I'm a farmer
In 2002, we completed our house and I was able to say goodbye to Home
Depot. Melodee bailed later but went to work in the financial sector (farming
doesn’t quite pay all the bills).
In 2004, we completed our 5800 sq ft computer controlled greenhouse. We
started our greenhouse adventure growing Organic transplants (small
starter plants transplanted to produce crops) and received Organic
Certification for our grove as well.
Last year we completed an Aquaponic growing system in one half of the
greenhouse to raise herbs. We believe that Aquaponics is one of the most
environmentally friendly greenhouse growing systems. We'll have more
information on our Aquaponics in future newsletters.
Temecula. We really liked the area as it reminded me of upstate New York
where I grew up and Melodee of Utah where she grew up. We found an
older, declining avocado grove on twelve acres that had a great view, and
was a perfect site for a new home.
At the time the grove was split about 50-50 between avocados and star ruby
grapefruit. The avocados were suffering from a common California avocado
disease called root rot. The disease slowly kills the trees until they need to
be removed.
Also at that time I was working as a District Manager for Home Depot and
Melodee was a Call Center Manager for Home Depot. I must admit that I took
a lot of jokes about my part time job as a farmer.
Learning to be an Organic Grower
As the years went on we seemed to enjoy the time we spent on our farm
working much more than time on our “real” jobs. During those first several
years I became obsessed trying to stop the disease killing our avocado
trees. At the time, the grove was grown conventionally, meaning the use of
chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides was okay. The more research I
did the more it occurred to me that perhaps the way the trees were grown
was the problem. In 2000 we converted all of our property to Organic
growing practices. We stopped using all chemical fertilizers, herbicides and
chemical pesticides. Slowly, many of the trees responded using manure,
compost and other organic growing practices. We also noticed how much
better the fruit tasted and looked. Many of the problems we had
encountered growing the conventional (chemical) way were no longer a
problem. We started to bring in bees every year to pollinate and it has made
a tremendous difference.
And now I'm a farmer
In 2002, we completed our house and I was able to say goodbye to Home
Depot. Melodee bailed later but went to work in the financial sector (farming
doesn’t quite pay all the bills).
In 2004, we completed our 5800 sq ft computer controlled greenhouse. We
started our greenhouse adventure growing Organic transplants (small
starter plants transplanted to produce crops) and received Organic
Certification for our grove as well.
Last year we completed an Aquaponic growing system in one half of the
greenhouse to raise herbs. We believe that Aquaponics is one of the most
environmentally friendly greenhouse growing systems. We'll have more
information on our Aquaponics in future newsletters.
Contact Information:
De Luz Farms and Nursery
22250 Corte Bonita
Temecula, CA 92590
951-693-0272 phone
951-693-0272 Fax
Our Website:
De Luz Farms and Nursery
22250 Corte Bonita
Temecula, CA 92590
951-693-0272 phone
951-693-0272 Fax
Our Website:
Feijoas and Artichokes
Grapefruit, Pluots and Jujubes
Bananas and Avocados
A Feijoa flower in bloom