Owners

Ben Lucero and Karen Toombs

Ben was raised in Watsonville where he grew up farming. He started his first organic farm in the 1960s, and although he found it difficult to make a living he kept at it. When the farmers’ market movement finally took hold 20 years later he began to turn a profit for the first time. In 2006, Ben’s eldest son, Curtis, returned from the military to work on the family farm.

Karen started out as a loyal Lucero farmers’ market customer. Soon she began lending a hand on the farm where she met Ben.

Chef Canales says that Ben is the one who taught him how tomatoes should be grown, by knowing when and how to restrict watering.  And as an extension of that, Lucero taught Canales how tomatoes should taste: intensely concentrated and vibrant with flavor.  Along with the amazing variety of tomatoes, Canales also admires the Lucero strawberries, which owe their remarkable flavor to these same practices.

Challenges

Heat waves in Lodi are severe and can be tough on the crops. Soil types vary from a light sandy loam to a rich, dark, crumbly loam. Each is amended with an organic compost that contains no animal products. Fish emulsion and cover crops enrich the soil with nitrogen, a key plant nutrient. Crop rotation helps to prevent depletion of minerals in the soil.

Principles

They strive to produce good, healthy food. Both Ben and Karen love being outside and working with plants.

Length of relationship with Oliveto

12 years (prior farm in San Martin)

Locations

Several parcels of land totaling 32 acres in Lodi, in the San Joaquin Valley

Crops

Strawberries, raspberries, tomatoes (60 varieties), eggplants (8 varieties)

Secondary crops: okra, watermelon, summer squash, cucumbers

Organizations/Certification

CCOF since 2002

Distribution

Farmers’ Markets

Farmers’ markets

Berkeley Derby Street – Tuesdays

Berkeley Shattuck Avenue – Thursdays

Berkeley Downtown – Saturdays

Oakland Grand Lake – Saturdays

San Francisco Ferry Building – Saturdays

Menlo Park – Sundays

Palo Alto – Sundays

Oakland Temescal – Sundays

Today marks the first day of Summer 2011 and many signs of the season were on display at the Derby Street Market: fragrant basil, cherry tomatoes from Full Belly, summer squash & those knockout long stem Seascape strawberries from Lucero, and piles of “ripe shamefaced peaches” (had to get in a belated Bloomsday reference) at Blossom Bluff.

But one of the definitive signs that it is truly summer at the Derby Street market is the appearance of our friends from Dirty Girl Produce.  And there they were!  Right next to a freakin’ harp player!

Seems that Santa Cruz was not as waylaid by rain as it was last year, so most of Dirty Girl’s crops were planted on schedule.  Their romanesco was looking particularly lovely today, as well as some smaller bunched broccoli.  Coming up: beans. Lots and lots of beans (haricots vert, romano, cannellini, among others) should be arriving from Dirty Girl Produce within the next few weeks.  And the official statement on dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes?  ETA: 4-5 weeks.

They’ve arrived.

Yesterday, we saw the first wave of the Lucero Organic Farm’s amaaazing long stem Seascape strawberries at the Derby St. market in Berkeley.  Karen Lucero showed up at 2 p.m. when the market opened, and was sold out within three hours.

Ben Lucero has been growing this same variety of strawberry for years, even after he moved his farm inland from the coast to Lodi.  Ben believes that great strawberries are the product of close attention and judicious watering, not a certain variety, location, or climate.  As a result, Lucero strawberries are a concentration of bright, vibrant flavor.  And a favorite of the Oliveto kitchen.

Fortunately, we were able to snap up a few flats & Chef Jonah has them on the menu already:

Crudo of fluke with basil, strawberry, and almonds; lemon agrumato

We visited the Berkeley Farmers’ Market last Saturday with Bill Fujimoto and got a look at what’s in season right this minute & what will be even-more-in-season by the end of this week.  We also got an insider’s tip on a savvy way to save some money during this time of year.

In the meantime, the current showstopper is eggplant.  Chef Canales shows us the three varieties he’s particularly fond of and explains how he likes to use them.  Eggplant will be on the Oliveto menu in a variety of dishes over the next few days including:

Conchiglie with Rosa Bianca egglpant and pancetta

Stuffed chard and fried ricotta polpettini with wood-oven-roasted eggplant purée

Last Tuesday, Chef Paul Canales and Bill Fujimoto met up at the Derby Street Farmers’ Market in Berkeley to get a taste of what’s great right now, and also to show us what to look for as the summer progresses.

video shot and edited by Ben Schwartz

In the last week the Luceros’ strawberries have reached their peak, marking the official beginning of berry season and what looks to be a very sweet summer.

“The temperature outside surpassed 90 degrees today. Tomatoes love the heat. The plants are doing well.

Typically, we harvest our first tomatoes sometime in June and maybe we might see some cherry types or smaller varieties as early as late May.  Bye for now.”

Ben’s son Curtis sent us the following photos:

Watch the videos

We’re at the beginning of planting season for Bay Area farms.
As asparagus and artichokes abound, Lucero, Full Belly and Riverdog Farms are also dodging spring frosts and making their plans for restricted water use.

Judith Redmond at Full Belly Farm says they will have several waves of tomato plantings.

At the beginning of April, about half of this year’s tomato crop at Lucero Farm in Lodi CA, is in the ground.

Trini Campbell and Tim Mueller of Riverdog Farm, April 8th in the Capay Valley, Yolo County, California.