A Visit With Ojai Roots
I had the opportunity to visit Rei and Evan at their small, neighborhood farm last fall and was surprised to learn they were around the corner from me in Ojai. Ojai Roots was started by this duo in the height of COVID, a pet project to pass away the time and grow some food. Evan had grown up on his property and received the green light from his mother to start a home farm. Cut to a couple years later and he has a successful farm box delivery service benefiting locals and restaurants alike, as well namesake products like candles and olive oil not unlike the LA based well known Flamingo Estate. Ojai Roots is growing and has purchased another property in order to expand and meet the growing demand. I was struck by Evan’s passion and knowledge and by Rei’s kindness and steadiness.
1. Hi Rei and Evan, can you tell me in your own words about what you do?
Rei:
We both wear all hats of labor for Ojai Roots. I do anything from planning growth and creating systems for our company to harvesting and packing farm orders. I spearhead our marketing and designs from our website to our products. Designing packaging and creating new products takes up a lot of my time as we start to expand the product lines that we offer from our farm.
Evan:
My role has shifted in really interesting ways as our farm and business have grown. Originally, I did just about everything on the farm when the focus at first was almost entirely on production. As I refined our production systems and hired staff to help with some of the daily tasks, I began to focus more on the growth and development of our business. Today, most of my focus and attention is aimed at ensuring we do everything in our power to fulfill our vision. I am passionate about plant, animal, and soil health so I spend lots of time researching and learning about these topics before putting this knowledge to use on the farm. I’m always thinking about and planning future farm expansion projects, new farm enterprises, and farm experiments. I’d like to think I am a bit of a solution oriented perfectionist- sometimes to my own detriment- so I’m always finding problems on the farm and in our business as a whole, and I’m constantly thinking about solutions and improvements to our operations.
2. What inspired you to start Ojai Roots?
Evan: Fundamentally, my love of nature (and plants in particular) was the initial inspiration behind starting Ojai Roots. Initially, Ojai Roots began as the home garden on my Mom’s property in the Arbolada. As a gardener, I became completely obsessed with plants, soil, and food production. I loved the challenge and felt a constant need to improve and to deepen my understanding of the complex mysteries involved in soil health, plant growth and the myriad cycles of nature. In some ways the food we produce is a byproduct of this insatiable curiosity for learning.
Additionally, we are entrepreneurs at heart and we enjoy developing a community centered business. The notion that we can use our business to do good for our community and to innovate and pioneer change along the way keeps us continually motivated and inspired.
3. Ojai Roots is re-envisioning a robust local food system. How are you doing that?
Ojai Roots encompasses several projects that further our mission of re-envision a robust local food system. Primarily we are a diverse and ecologically focused farm. We operate a farm box delivery program for locals in the Ojai Valley and supply a range of restaurants and food purveyors across Ojai, Ventura and Santa Barbara with nutritious locally grown food. We regularly host special events for our members on our beautiful properties and when other local producers meet our quality and sustainability standards we proudly work with them and support their farms. In this sense, our business touches on several aspects of the food system from food production, to distribution and even to education and entertainment. Our company has a holistic and multifaceted approach to achieving our mission of addressing many of the environmental, social and public health problems present in traditional food production and distribution systems. We are confident that Ojai is the perfect place to be doing this work and we hope our work paves the way for others to follow.
4. Can you talk a little bit about your process? Your approach to farming?
Our approach to farming is centered around the core principles of regenerative agriculture which include promoting ecological diversity, minimizing soil disturbance, and feeding the soil with compost, mulch or living plant roots. “No-till” is a term that has gained traction in recent times and, although it can have ambiguous meanings, essentially entails an approach to farming that encompasses the above mentioned principles with a focus on minimization of soil disturbance. Tractors, tillers and other heavy equipment can seriously damage living organisms in the soil such as worms and fungi which play an important role in keeping the soil healthy and productive. The overuse of these techniques lead to degradation in soil health which can lead to stressed plants that require more fertilizer to grow and which can be more susceptible to pest and disease pressure.
5. What do you think about the Regenerative farming movement?
We strongly support the regenerative farming movement and we feel confident that Ojai Roots is a part of that movement. We are excited by the amazing amount of research and development in this area both on a large and small scale. It is important to keep in mind though that food production is only one aspect for the overall food system. While regenerative farming can provide environmental and economic benefits, to really make unprecedented change these innovative food production methods must be coupled with intelligent and equitable distribution systems.
One legitimate criticism that is sometimes put on the regenerative farming movement is that the term regenerative is not well defined. It is true that in comparison to the term “organic”, which is a governmentally regulated term, “regenerative” is a term that can be freely used and applied. Regenerative farming can, and we believe, should mean different things to different people. At the end of the day things are not simply good or evil. Agricultural systems and food systems are immensely complex containing huge numbers of producers, distributors and ultimately consumers. To really measure a business in terms of sustainability and environmental stewardship takes a detailed look into their individual practices, protocols and methods. From a consumer’s perspective the best thing you can do is educate yourself on these important topics.
6. Where do you see Ojai Roots going moving forward? What is your vision?
We see Ojai Roots as an innovative space for growing food for our local and surrounding communities. It is a place for our community to connect with the food on their plates and know the farmers that grew it and the chefs that prepared it.
7. What are the most difficult aspects of your work as farmers?
Working at a farm both in the business and production side entail a great deal of long hours and physical/mental labor. Many people perceive the farm life as relaxing – but I can assure you that it is more work than it is relaxing. To keep plants and animals alive and healthy, requires constant attention and is no way a 9-5 job. It may not be relaxing but we find the work we do at Ojai Roots to be wholesome, fulfilling and rewarding like nothing else.
8. What inspires you in life?
Food and nature! We both love to travel and to explore different cultures- with particular emphasis paid on food. We find it remarkable that although different areas of the world share the same basic inputs of sunlight, water and soil, they are able to produce such an incredibly diverse range of products that are then turned into an even more diverse array of recipes and foods. We always take inspiration from our travels back home to the farm and to our kitchen.
Instagram: @ojairoots | www.ojairoots.com
