"Totem" a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem
The farm officially started operations in October of 2015 when Reynolds arrived to an old wooden farm house surrounded by orange trees and a farm infrastructure in need of restoration and reinvention.
Since that time the ranch has undergone many changes but we maintain the tenants of focused and conscious environmental stewardship; with an emphasis on ecologically oriented agricultural production.
Our plan from day one was to maintain the agricultural productivity necessary to fuel a more ecologically driven course and to learn from the cultural preeminence of the geographical horticultural traditions in order to build a bio dynamic orchard that was viable both economically and in the face of a changing environmental context.
The attributes of the type of farming we wanted to endeavor upon would support the citrus orchard with fewer chemical inputs but also strengthen interwoven native landscape and surrounding wild which embraces our groves.
Totem Ranch Co is a combined 62 acres that's farmed as biodynamics and certified organic citrus and also includes, animal livestock, diverse horticultural cultivation, aswell as natural wildlife habitat and riparian corridors. We are a garden-farm that comprehensively enables an overtone of diverse permaculture plants in the support the residents and participants of the ranch but also the overarching health of underlying soil conditions. We focus on biodynamic as well as organic methods in order to reduce as many harmful elements to our air and ground, because the ultimate cost of poisoning our natural resources was not an expense we could afford nor wanted to endeavor upon.
As farmers in the 21st century we are adapting to a new nature that is more fragile than ever before,
Since 2017 we have also housed the All Good Things Seed Co, operated by Quin Shakra and we are happy to have found a seed alliance for our cover crops aswell as for vegetable, herb, and flower varieties that we need regularly
Our goal, is to encourage the synergistic growing of food by doing true ecological farming; allowing for food production without soil depletion. With that goal has come the transition to new farming methods and system changes that lead us to the methods of biodynamics
Valencia oranges, Navel oranges, Pixie tangerines, Lisbon lemons, and Cara Cara oranges grown organically and biodynamically and are the mainstay of our farm activities.
Our continued vision o is to move toward cleaner energy sources, more local, more renewable inputs, and increased bio-integrity and diversity. We hope to shift the model of food production to one with embodied with integrity and ecological nuance.
Making habitat for animals has become a mainstay of our activity
Recent Stories
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The farm officially started operations in October of 2015 when Reynolds arrived to an old wooden farm house surrounded by orange trees and a farm infrastructure in need of restoration and reinvention.
Since that time the ranch has undergone many changes but we maintain the tenants of focused and conscious environmental stewardship; with an emphasis on ecologically oriented agricultural production.
Our plan from day one was to maintain the agricultural productivity necessary to fuel a more ecologically driven course and to learn from the cultural preeminence of the geographical horticultural traditions in order to build a bio dynamic orchard that was viable both economically and in the face of a changing environmental context.
The attributes of the type of farming we wanted to endeavor upon would support the citrus orchard with fewer chemical inputs but also strengthen interwoven native landscape and surrounding wild which embraces our groves.
Totem Ranch Co is a combined 62 acres that's farmed as biodynamics and certified organic citrus and also includes, animal livestock, diverse horticultural cultivation, aswell as natural wildlife habitat and riparian corridors. We are a garden-farm that comprehensively enables an overtone of diverse permaculture plants in the support the residents and participants of the ranch but also the overarching health of underlying soil conditions. We focus on biodynamic as well as organic methods in order to reduce as many harmful elements to our air and ground, because the ultimate cost of poisoning our natural resources was not an expense we could afford nor wanted to endeavor upon.
As farmers in the 21st century we are adapting to a new nature that is more fragile than ever before,
Since 2017 we have also housed the All Good Things Seed Co, operated by Quin Shakra and we are happy to have found a seed alliance for our cover crops aswell as for vegetable, herb, and flower varieties that we need regularly
Our goal, is to encourage the synergistic growing of food by doing true ecological farming; allowing for food production without soil depletion. With that goal has come the transition to new farming methods and system changes that lead us to the methods of biodynamics
Valencia oranges, Navel oranges, Pixie tangerines, Lisbon lemons, and Cara Cara oranges grown organically and biodynamically and are the mainstay of our farm activities.
Our continued vision o is to move toward cleaner energy sources, more local, more renewable inputs, and increased bio-integrity and diversity. We hope to shift the model of food production to one with embodied with integrity and ecological nuance.
Making habitat for animals has become a mainstay of our activity
Recent Stories
,
"Totem" a natural object or animal that is believed by a particular society to have spiritual significance and that is adopted by it as an emblem
Totem Ranch Co officially began farming in early 2015 and has reimagined a historical orange orchard originally established as the Lismore ranch in 1810.
Since launching the Totem Ranch Company, it has become a continuation of the agriculture spirit alive and well in Ojai, and it remains production focused citrus orchard in keeping with its historical roots and earliest plantings.
The farm maintains a biodynamic and organic certification and we practice regenerative agricultural production with an overtone of agroforestry and holistic land management principles. We strive to follow and improve upon the standards set by these organizations, because farming is a complex animal which rarely fits within the box of any certification or credential.
Our vision is to grow with the land and bring forth new approaches for conservation and ecological restoration as much as it to produce food, because we cannot imagine another way of operating in a landscape that's so naturally pristine.
At Totem Ranch we take the newest technology and mix it with the oldest, in order to enhance the attributes of our
perennial trees and bring forth the best fruit possible.
Totem Ranch is planted as diverse orchards, our primary crops being oranges, lemons, tangerines and avocados interplanted with many other varieties of fruiting and non-edible trees. As part of our commitment to regenerative farming we are involved with animal livestock, diverse horticultural cultivation, natural wildlife habitat and riparian corridor restoration. Our farm is an attempt to revision the citrus orchard by reducing ecologically harmful practices of input heavy regimes, break cycles of costly chemical inputs, and instead let animal and plants work in symbiosis to grow our desired products. We are a garden-farm that comprehensively enables an overtone of diverse permaculture plants in the support the fertility needs of our crops while not unhinging the underlying soil conditions
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While water shortage and consumption issues in Southern California and all over the west have become increasingly prescient, we are doubling our efforts to build soil carbon and aim to achieve highly efficient water use, Our team has been constantly seeking to reduce our water runoff, with near constant habitat and riparian zone maintenance and stewardship. We also are on the tip of the spear with irrigation improvements and adaptable and diverse solutions for varied landscapes found on the ranch.
As young farmers in a young century we are adapting to a natural world that is more fragile than ever before, our goals exist in the context of the delicate cradle we call the Ojai valley and preserve water and other natural resources for generations.
With our perennial fruit tree and subtropical orchards or goal is to encourage the synergistic growing of food by doing true ecological farming; allowing for food production within a highly productive and complex soil and food web. With that goal has come the transition to new farming methods and system changes that have lead us to the methods of biodynamics and regenerative agriculture
Our continued vision is to move toward cleaner energy sources, more local, more renewable inputs, and always increasing bio-integrity and diversity. We hope to grow our horticultural garden selection even further and make more diverse local fresh produce available to our community in the months and years ahead.
We've come to realize that a citrus orchard is highly controlled agroforestry model, that
can easily incorporate the concepts of permaculture and diverse food web management to allow for higher quality soil conditions and more interesting fruits and farm products. Our company culture is literally the soil under our feet, and we are as integrally involved with the real day to day operations of running a biologically active farm as we physically can achieve.
We seek to help provide a replicable and achievable system for diverse horticultural cultivation of citrus and other fruit
in a way that eliminates the need for the yucky chemicals.
Everything we grow is 100% organic and our farm actively seeks to avoid all inorganically synthesized products. The 60 acre farm is an attempt to revitalize the ecological space and let nature shine through with our management.
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