Tales of Trips & Tours by Patty Gaffney … Another terrific tour day!
On September 22, the last official day of summer, Scott Tenney of Bluebird Canyon Farms, gave an informational tour to 30 club members and guests over the competing sounds of a chopper buzz and a rooster crow. He spoke of the practical realities of farming this site and its impact and influence on the community. Although unable to co-lead the tour, his wife Mariella Simon was distinctly present with her excellent eye for design and her styling of an old Rancho experience. Scott described the farm, their passion project, as a partnership where “Everything that is beautiful is Mariella’s doing, and probably everything that is strong is mine.”
Started in 2012, Bluebird Canyon Farms is a biodynamic urban farm approximately 15 acres in size. The site has a colorful history, originally populated by Native American people who were ousted by European homesteaders, that in 1926 became the Tom Sawyer Camp for Boys. After the Pearl Harbor attack, the group relocated, and the site was sold and used as a retreat until the early1960s. Contributing to Laguna Beach’s eclectic past, this land was where “a lot of art and shoes were made.”
“We grow things, teach things and do things,” Scott declared. The growing is evident in esthetically terraced beds planted with chilis, squash, purple lettuce and cold crops in winter. The farm also grows both edible and ornamental flowers.
Upon retirement as a geneticist and cell biologist, Mariella focused on a market garden, which established relationships with local chefs who would plan their menus while “shopping” the farm and where the site would host farm-to-table experiences. She also created a farm stand which is open Tuesdays from 10am to 4pm.
Teaching entails short workshops such as backyard composting, permaculture, or foraging. In addition, Bluebird Canyon Farms has a long-term program which creates a grounding of competency-based skills through exposing young people with cognitive disabilities to the rhythm of the farm. The doing is the making of such things as breadboards, cutting boards, spice racks, all in the workshop, which was a former three-car garage.
More than beautiful terraced beds, there is a chicken coop, which is home for twelve years to black copper Marans. A metal and stone outdoor kitchen stands amid olive trees, complemented by a rustic table with a tree slab tabletop. There is a fairy circle of polished tree stumps, while further up the canyon is the charming Flower Chateau.
Scott, who is a retired engineer, outlined their biodynamic soil practices including crop rotation and their better-than-organic integrated approach to pest management, balancing pests with their predators. He has an excellent team and fosters paid interns. During his explanation of the functionality of the water cistern and a sophisticated irrigation system, there were delights for the eye at every turn. Delight in the smallest details such as a manhole cover blooming with a four-tiered corolla of lavish petals.
Ending the tour, Scott described the resiliency that is the ethos of Bluebird Canyon Farms. Resiliency manifests in the community with their ability to grow food for their families, to grow abundantly to feed the community through the farm stand and through partnerships with The Salt Horse, a specialty grocery (located at 1360 S. Coast Hwy), and the Mercado Laguna (located at 912 N. Coast Hwy). He urged us to support these enterprises.
Scott mentioned their apiary which is fitting since as a club, we listened to artist Matt Willey’s inspiring talk about “The Good of the Hive.” Friday showed the club’s sense of community starting with members who drove us to and from Scott’s and Mariella’s labor of love. Thank you: Brian Jones, Sandy Smith, and Pam Talarico. Thank you: Jane Leary and Dee Perry for arriving at the farm early, redirecting cars to minimize parking impact.
We saw community at Bluebird Park in the glorious array of potluck dishes which ranged from appetizers to an astonishing variety of salads to desserts. In the club’s first potluck in several years and without prearrangement, we brought forth a bounty of no-repeat dishes. And we saw community in how people jumped in to organize the buffet table, brought tablecloths and extra paper goods, and shared photos.
There was delight on top of the beauty and function of the farm when Scott joined us at Bluebird Park bringing his Shiba Inu puppy, Oso or Bear. And more delight when a red crested woodpecker with vivid striping was pointed out. And of course, delight in a delicious lunch next to one of the pollinator gardens sponsored by our garden club. It was a celebration of community and delight experienced with our hive.
