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2 CapitalPress.com February 13, 2015 People & Places Marin County farmer an organic pioneer Peter Martinelli established one of first certified farms in California Capital Press Managers Mike O’Brien .............................Publisher Joe Beach ..................................... Editor Elizabeth Yutzie Sell .... Advertising Director Carl Sampson ................Managing Editor Barbara Nipp ......... Production Manager Samantha McLaren .... Circulation Manager Hannah Brause ...Audience Development For the Capital Press Entire contents copyright © 2015 EO Media Group dba Capital Press An independent newspaper published every Friday. Capital Press (ISSN 0740-3704) is published weekly by EO Media Group, 1400 Broadway St. NE, Salem OR 97301. Periodicals postage paid at Portland, OR, and at additional mailing offices. Courtesy of Michael Woolsey Peter Martinelli started one of the first certified organic farms in California. He sells to high-end restaurants and specialty stores. Western Innovator Peter Martinelli Occupation: Organic grower Education: University of Califor- nia-Berkeley Hometown: Kentfield, Calif. Quote: “I look forward to each day on the farm. Within a day I’ll often encounter a problem I’ve never seen before, celebrate some sort of triumph and learn something new in the process.” waste from local horse ranches, adds yard and garden waste for “green manure” and plows un- der his cover crops in the spring for added nitrogen. “I grow tomatoes, which is almost unheard of on the coast, but the farm is protected by large trees that create a warmer climate,” he said. He also grows other, more unusual plants. “I bought 100-year-old daf- fodil bulbs from a Northern Cal- ifornia farm to sell as cut flow- ers,” he said. “They produce varieties that are not seen in this century.” Martinelli also harvests wild nettle that he sells to a lo- cal cheese creamery. The nettle is part of an ancient method of curing cheese. He saves most of his crop seed that does not cross pollinate in the field. “For example, the squash family is very promiscuous,” he said. “A pumpkin can cross with a zucchini and you have no idea what you will get.” Jamison Watts, executive di- rector of the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, said Martinelli is a pioneer in organic farming. “Peter has a true understand- ing and appreciation for the art and science of producing food in balance with nature,” he said. “He owns and operates one of California’s oldest certified or- ganic farms.” Martinelli’s Fresh Run Farm has recently been protected with an agricultural conservation easement from MALT. “Peter is also an active care- taker of the land that supports his farm,” Watts said. “He and his family have worked exten- sively with the National Park Service and other agencies to protect the coho and steelhead in Pine Gulch Creek, which runs through the farm. Martinelli has been on MALT’s board of directors since 2008, and currently chairs its stewardship committee. Hair and gone: Taking the challenge, supporting a friend By RYAN M. TAYLOR For the Capital Press Cowboy Logic T Ryan Taylor OWNER, N.D. — I’ve always kept my hair pretty short. I was even born with short hair. Well, there was that one period of time, immortalized in my sec- ond grade school photo, when I let my hair grow so long that it went over my ears. Hey, it was the ’70s. Wild times. Actually, I didn’t start life with short hair. When I look at baby photos, I’d say I was plain old bald. While my hair has been growing as best it can for the last 44 years, it’s a safe bet to make that I’ll re- turn to my original baldness at some point in the future. As of last week, I gave baldness a try with the help of a friend and a hair clipper. Not long before that, I went to a bar- ber and got my usual cut with the half-inch guard and the ex- tra care it takes to leave a little something on my forehead to part and comb off to the side. So going down to the scalp was only a half-inch trip, plus chopping off that cow lick that dangled off my widow’s peak. Clipper time I went from the half-inch trim to a zero-inch buzz to sup- port a friend and accept a chal- lenge within a circle of mutual friends who want her to know we’re there to help her through the chemotherapy she is taking for stage four melanoma. Our children thought it was pretty entertaining when they got a look at my new hairless-do. Our six-year-old daughter, never at a loss for words, says, “I think those tiny little hairs on the back of your head look nice … and I’m sure you’ll get a lot of compliments on your humongous forehead!” She really emphasized “hu- mongous,” waited for me to laugh, then giggled uncontrol- lably and worked “humongous forehead” into the conversation three or four more times while we drove home from town. She asked if I had my hair cut for the “Locks of Love” pro- gram that she had heard about from a friend in school. I told her that the hair they cut off of my head was probably too short and had too much gray in it for the children who are helped by Locks of Love. “But maybe some old, bald guy would like to have it,” she countered. OK, maybe. Ouch. Bilateral baldness My sons came up with some new names for the bilat- eral bareness that defines the widow’s peak on my humon- gous forehead (now she’s got me saying it). My eight-year- old said, “I can really see that ‘tipi’ on your head now, Dad.” Tagging on to the theme of ancient lodging on the plains and the tools of the people who built them, my 10-year- old came up with, “Yeah, it kind of looks like an arrow- head.” While the kids have had some fun with my new look, I remind them, and everyone, it’s not about me or my hair, it’s about our friend, Ashley, and the battle she is waging against a serious and aggres- sive cancer. We’re “Cheering for Ashley,” which happens to be the name of the Facebook page we use to support her, if you want to give it a “like.” I saw Ashley at church last Sunday with her family, and she smiled and said, “I like your hairdo, Ryan!” I told her I liked hers, too, but mostly I liked seeing her smile. As her brother has told all of us, the four things that will get his sister through this chal- lenge are love, support, prayer and laughter. Our family is of- fering up the first three every day, and if my haircut will add something to the fourth, I’m glad to add my subtracted hair as a means to help. First lady says ‘cheese dust is not food’ By DARLENE SUPERVILLE Associated Press WASHINGTON — Mi- chelle Obama says she dropped boxed macaroni and cheese from her family’s diet after her daughter couldn’t turn a block of cheese into cheese powder. In an interview in the March issue of Cooking Light magazine, Mrs. Obama says Sam Kass, the family’s for- mer personal chef, had taken a stand against the boxed vari- ety, which includes processed cheese powder among the in- gredients. “He said there’s nothing wrong with mac and cheese, Established 1928 Board of directors Mike Forrester ..........................President Steve Forrester Kathryn Brown Sid Freeman .................. Outside director Mike Omeg .................... Outside director Corporate officer John Perry Chief operating officer By JULIA HOLLISTER BOLINAS, Calif. — Organ- ic grower Peter Martinelli ad- mits it took him about 10 years to discover his love of the land was a career. “When I attended college at the University of Califor- nia-Berkeley I was discouraged to go into agriculture,” he said. “I worked at a local farm after leaving Cal and learned most of the regulations regarding or- ganic farming. So I convinced my grandmother that ag was not such a bad occupation.” The timing was perfect. His family owned 20 acres of rich bottomland in Marin County and the organic movement was just taking off. His farm was one of the first certified organic op- erations in California. Martinelli discovered quick- ly that farming is a tough busi- ness, and he had to figure out the marketing to make money. The farm, which is about one hour from San Francisco, sells to high-end restaurants there, in Berkeley and in Marin County. “There is a robust tourist trade here and a huge demand for organic products on the coast, so I don’t have trouble selling,” he said. “The rules for growing organic are simple — no herbicides or toxic substanc- es and I think the most important is maintaining a living soil for healthy plants that are suitable for this zone.” Compost is the key to his successful operation. He collects Capital Press but it’s got to be real food,” she said, crediting him with helping to eliminate processed food from their diet. Kass gave her daugh- ter Malia, who was about 8 years old at the time, a block of cheese and challenged her to turn the fresh cheese into powder. “She sat there for 30 min- utes trying to pulverize a block of cheese into dust,” Mrs. Obama says. “She was really focused on it and it just didn’t work, so she had to give up. And from then on, we stopped eating macaroni and cheese out of a box because cheese dust is not food, as was the moral of the story.” As she marks the fifth an- niversary of her anti-child- hood-obesity initiative, the first lady says it feels like there’s “a new norm” in how families think about food and what’s healthy. Because food is personal and people are obsessed with it, Mrs. Obama said she’s try- ing to deliver “a message of change” that doesn’t assign blame but provides informa- tion needed to make better choices. “And starting with kids has been an important first step because, as I’ve al- ways said, parents will do for their kids what they won’t do for themselves.” She plans to spend time this year encouraging people to prepare and eat more of their meals at home. “What we do know is that the food you cook is healthier, and it can be more affordable, but it takes some skills,” such as learning how to cut a chicken into its parts, Mrs. Obama said. The first lady said her initia- tive and her husband’s health care law will, in the long run, save the country money by im- proving people’s health. “You don’t have to be an Olympic athlete to be healthy, but you do need to walk your dog or take your kids to the park periodically and throw a football around,” she said. Her goal as an 80- or 90-year-old is to still be mo- bile. “I want to be able to walk up a temple or a ruin on my own and see the world. And I can only do that if I’ve been investing in my health now,” the first lady said. “And just imagine, if we’ve got kids 20, 30, 40 years younger than we are doing that now, they’re going to be some of the stron- gest 80- and 90-year-olds we’ve ever seen. And that’s our dream.” The magazine features Mrs. Obama on the cover, the first time in the publication’s 28- year history that food was not the cover subject. The issue is due on newsstands Friday. POSTMASTER: send address changes to Capital Press, P.O. 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Capital Press ag media www.capitalpress.com www.FarmSeller.com www.AgDirectoryWest.com www.OnlyAg.com www.facebook.com/capitalpress www.facebook.com/farmseller www.facebook.com/onlyAGdotcom twitter.com/capitalpress www.youtube.com/capitalpressvideo www.blogriculture.com Index California ................................ 9 Dairy .................................... 14 Idaho .................................... 10 Livestock ............................. 14 Opinion .................................. 6 Calendar FEBRUARY NATIONAL Feb. 19-20 — Family Farm Alli- ance annual meeting, Monte Carlo Resort and Casino, Las Vegas, 707- 998-9487 or ffameeting@aol.com Feb. 23-26 — Potato D.C. Fly- In, sponsored by the National Potato Council, Mayflower Renaissance Hotel, 1127 Connecticut Ave. NW, Washington, D.C., www.nationalpo- tatocouncil.org OREGON Feb. 19-21 — Oregon Logging Conference, Lane County Fair- grounds and Convention Center, Eugene, 541-686-9191, www.ore- gonloggingconference.com Feb. 24-25 — Oregon Dairy Farmers Annual Convention, Salem Conference Center, www.dairyfarm- ersor.com/101-convention-general CALIFORNIA Feb. 25 — Sutter-Yuba-Colu- sa-Yolo-Solano-Sacramento Walnut Day, Veterans Hall, Yuba City, 530- 822-7515, http://cesutter.ucanr.edu IDAHO Feb. 26-27 — Idaho Hay and Forage Conference, Best Western Burley Inn, www.idahohay.com, 208-888-0988 or cindy@amgidaho. com Feb. 27 — Drones for Forestry workshop, 1:15-4:30 p.m., University of Idaho Extension, 1808 N. Third Ave., Coeur d’Alene, $15, 208-446-1680 MARCH OREGON March 16-17 — Oregon State University Blueberry School, LaSells Stewart Center and CH2M Hill Alum- ni Center, OSU campus, Corvallis, http://osublueberryschool.org/ March 20-23 — Oregon FFA State Convention, Silverton, www. oregonffa.com March 20-22 — Northwest Horse Fair & Expo, Linn County Fair and Expo Center, Albany, www. equinepromotions.net CALIFORNIA March 3 — Walnut (7-year-olds) No Pruning-Pruning Comparison Field Meeting, morning, Nickels Soil Lab, Arbuckle, 530-822-7515, http:// cesutter.ucanr.edu March 3 — Walnut (2-year-olds) No Pruning-Pruning Comparison Field Meeting, afternoon, Nickels Soil Lab, Arbuckle, 530-822-7515, http://cesutter.ucanr.edu March 17-18 — Fruit Ripening & Retail Handling Workshop, Uni- versity of California-Davis, http:// postharvest.ucdavis.edu/Education/ fruitripening/ March 22-24 — California Fresh Fruit Association Annual Meeting, The Grand Del Mar , San Diego, www.CAFreshFruit.com APRIL OREGON April 18 — Oregon Women for Agriculture Auction and Dinner, Linn County Fair and Expo Center, Al- bany, 503-243-FARM (3276), http:// owaonline.org/ CALIFORNIA April 18-21 — California State FFA Conference, Selland Arena, Fresno, www.calaged.org/statecon- vention IDAHO April 8-11 — State FFA Leader- ship Conference, College of South- ern Idaho, Twin Falls, www.idffafoun- dation.org/ Oregon .................................. 8 Washington ..........................11 Correction policy Accuracy is important to Capital Press staff and to our readers. If you see a misstatement, omission or factual error in a headline, story or photo caption, please call the Capital Press news department at 503-364-4431, or send email to newsroom@capitalpress.com. We want to publish corrections to set the record straight.