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CapitalPress.com
Friday, August 21, 2020
People & Places
Heirlooms rule at tomato farm
By JULIA HOLLISTER
For the Capital Press
EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER
Established 1928
REEDLEY, Calif. —
Amber Balakian remem-
bers growing up on the fam-
ily farm — going to farmers
markets, playing in the irri-
gated rows of vegetables
and eating fresh produce
right off the vine.
“My great-grandfather,
Zadig Balakian, came over
to live during the Armenian
genocide,” she said. “My
grandmother, Stella, met
my grandfather, John Bala-
kian, and began farming the
Fresno County ranch that
we still continue farming
today.”
The 20-acre certified
organic farm now boasts 50
varieties of tomatoes as the
primary crop.
Amber credits her mother
with transitioning to heir-
loom tomatoes in the 1990s
as a means of developing a
niche in the marketplace.
The farm also grows
organic peaches, nectarines,
plums, pomegranates, figs,
grapes squash, eggplants
and Armenian cucumbers,
according to its website.
Amber has also devel-
oped a line of “Organic
Blended Heirloom Toma-
toes” in jars that can be
used as a tasty ingredient
for a variety of dishes and
a “Not So Bloody Mary
Mix” for cocktails using the
blemished tomatoes.
“I was determined to
find a way to create value
from the non-valued, and
so I set out to create some-
thing beautiful, unique and
delicious...,” she said on the
farm’s website.
Not all of the tomatoes
are harvested at the same
time.
“Tomatoes ripen from
the bottom up and each
variety differs in when they
are ready,” she said. “With
heirlooms, it really depends
on certain factors like the
Capital Press Managers
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Western
Innovator
Carl Sampson .................. Managing Editor
Jessica Boone ............ Production Manager
Samantha McLaren ....Circulation Manager
Entire contents copyright © 2020
AMBER
BALAKIAN
Hometown: Reedley,
Calif.
Age: 34
Education: B.A., econom-
ics, University of Califor-
nia-San Diego, master’s
degree in management
and operations, Harvard
University
Occupation: Fourth-gen-
eration owner-manager
Balakian Farms
Jesse Segovia
Amber Balakian, 34, in Balakian Farms’ greenhouse. She is the fourth-generation
owner-manager of the 20-acre farm in Reedley, Calif., that grows 50 varieties of or-
ganic heirloom tomatoes.
Personal statement:
Matthew 17:20: “Jesus
replied, Because you
have so little faith. Truly I
tell you, if you have faith
as small as a mustard
seed, you can say to this
mountain, ‘Move from
here to there,’ and it will
move. Nothing will be
impossible for you.”
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temperature, variety, etc.,
which can change from year
to year.”
Balakian’s favorites are
the Marvel Stripe, a gold-
and-red tomato that can
grow to 4 inches in diam-
eter, and the Chocolate
Stripe, a dark red heirloom
tomato with dark green
stripes.
Because the farm is
organic it can run into issues
with pests. Nematodes are
the most common pests in
the area, she said.
In addition, another
pest has attacked her busi-
ness and many others —
COVID-19. Balakian said
the virus has taken a bite out
of the farm’s sales, primarily
to restaurants, which were
closed or shifted to survival
mode with carry-out orders.
Many of her customers
are chefs and restaurants,
so the closures have had an
severe impact.
Farmers market atten-
dance has also been lower,
cutting into sales.
However, markets have
started selling community
supported agriculture sub-
scriptions that have helped
offset some of the sales
decreases.
The Balakians are also
regulars at one of San Fran-
cisco’s most prominent
farmers markets.
“The Balakians have
been a part of the Ferry
Plaza Farmers Market for
more than 20 years,” said
Christine Farren, executive
director of CUESA, which
operates the market at the
city’s Embarcadero. “Gen-
erous in nature, committed
to their craft, and talented in
farming, they have a loyal
following.”
As an inter-generational
farm with deep roots in the
Central Valley, they exem-
plify sustainable farm-
ing with their dedication
to organic stewardship and
preserving delicious heir-
loom varieties, Farren said.
At a time when the indus-
try needs young farmers
more than ever, she said it is
inspiring to see next-genera-
tion women farmers such as
Amber innovating through
value-add products, while
carrying on the family farm-
ing legacy.
“It is equally important
that Amber, who is Arme-
nian and African American,
reshape the public’s perspec-
tive of who can be a farmer,
as diversity in farm owner-
ship strengthens our food
system and enables greater
equity,” Farren said.
Nursery offers plant sales with a conscience
By GAIL OBERST
For the Capital Press
PORTLAND — Here’s a new
word for your urban dictionary:
plantfluencer, a portmanteau describ-
ing influential people in the social
networking world of retail nurseries.
Portland’s Birds & Bees Nursery
co-owner Amanda Simard modestly
says she doesn’t deserve the plantflu-
encer title bestowed on her and sev-
eral others in June in a Los Ange-
les Times story about Black nursery
owners.
Simard and co-owner Caitlin Gaul
have owned the boutique Southeast
Portland nursery for eight years.
“Caitlin actually does all the social
media,” Simard said.
The small nursery has been a
lightning rod for publicity. In addi-
tion to the L.A. Times, the Portland
Monthly, the Bee in Gladstone, the
Oregonian and several social net-
working sites have followed the nurs-
ery’s activities, from its opening in
2012 to its services during COVID-
19 closures, and its monthly fundrais-
ing promotions for Black Lives Mat-
ter and other social justice groups.
Gail Oberst/For the Capital Pres
Amanda Simard, left, and Caitlin
Gaul are owners of Portland’s re-
tail urban nursery, Birds & Bees.
The nursery promotes social jus-
tice causes at once-monthly sales
events. Birds & Bees gathers stock
from dozens of wholesale nurseries.
The two women are Portland
natives whose friendship was forged
while attending Lincoln High School.
Both say they developed an inter-
est in gardening because they liked
working outdoors. They developed
an interest in retail sales while they
were both employed at Finnegan’s
Toys & Gifts, a downtown Portland
shop. After a few years of working
for someone else, they began to think
of owning a business.
“We wanted to open our own
place,” Simard said.
For a year before they opened, the
pair sought help developing a busi-
ness plan from Mercy Corps North-
west. The Mercy Corps provides
training, financial services, grants,
loans and coaching for would-be
small business owners like Simard
and Gaul. The Corps events and
classes in Portland are funded in
part by the U.S. Small Business
Administration.
With plans in hand, Simard and
Gaul opened their nursery on SE
Gladstone Street. Three years ago,
they moved to a busier intersection at
50th and Powell, about a mile east of
their first place.
Before COVID-19 moved buying
habits into isolation, the small house-
turned-nursery featured gift items,
cards and house plants inside with
nursery plants displayed outside.
Now, the nursery has curtailed
its open hours and limited its in-per-
son shopping to outside displays and
sales. But to offset the inconvenience
of shortened hours, the women have
added a popular service: customers
within the city can now order plants
and supplies online and have them
delivered contact-free.
The nursery caters to urban gar-
deners, and to those who may not
have large, or any, gardening space.
Houseplants and terrarium supplies
take their place alongside seeds,
tools, pots, vegetable starts, flowers,
succulents and cacti and Northwest
native plants, trees and ornamentals.
The nursery’s products are listed on
its website, http://www.birdsand-
beespdx.com/, along with instruc-
tions for ordering. The business also
has active Instagram and Facebook
sites.
Although there are dozens of nurs-
eries within 25 miles of Birds & Bees,
Simard and Gaul have gathered to the
Tabor neighborhood products from
dozens of area growers and suppliers
including Yaquina Nursery, Weber’s
Wholesale, Little Prince of Oregon,
Fothergill’s Tropicals, Orchid Tropi-
cal Nursery and Potted Elephant.
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Hikers rescued after close encounter with mother cow, calf
By MARGO CRAIG
Capital Press
A California Highway
Patrol helicopter crew res-
cued an elderly couple injured
when a cow chased them off
the trail in the Lynch Canyon
Open Space Park in Northern
California.
Officers with the CHP
Golden Gate Division report
the hikers came across a cow
Aug. 11 with her calf on the
trail. The cow charged as the
hikers tried to pass, causing
them to fall and sustain minor
injuries.
A
CHP
helicopter
responded to the 9-1-1 call
with Solano County firefight-
ers and medics.
Once
the
helicopter
located the couple on the trail,
a flight paramedic determined
the couple needed a lift to the
trailhead.
Video posted online by
CHP shows a black cow and
calf standing a few feet away
from the elderly couple on a
barren, rocky slope. The cow
bellows as the helicopter hov-
ers overhead.
The flight paramedic used
the helicopter siren to scare
THROUGH FRIDAY
AUG. 21
R-CALF USA annual conven-
tion: The Lodge at Deadwood,
100 Pine Crest Lane, Deadwood,
SD. Topics will include antitrust
enforcement, trade reform, global-
ization and animal welfare as well
as an update on R-CALF’s lawsuit
against the four big packers. Con-
tact: 406-252-2516 Website: http://
www.r-calfusa.com
TUESDAY, AUG. 25
WSTFA Annual Golf Tour-
nament: 8 a.m. Highlander Golf
Course 2920 Eighth St. SE, East
Wenatchee, Wash. Join us for the
27th Annual Washington State Tree
Fruit Association Golf Tournament.
Your participation in our tourna-
ment helps raise money to sup-
port scholarships that are awarded
to students in honor of past tree
fruit industry leaders. As part of our
tournament, we are doing a silent
online auction of the Washington
apple No. 3 license plate. Website:
https://wstfa.org/golf-tournament/?
WEDNESDAY
AUG. 26
Teleconference on plan to raise
Anderson Ranch Dam (online):
6 p.m. Public comments taken on
Draft Environmental Impact State-
ment through Sept. 14. Website:
https://www.usbr.gov/pn/studies/
boisefeasibility/index.html
Safety Lockout-Tagout (webi-
nar): 1 p.m. In this free one-hour
webinar we will cover the require-
ments of 29 CFR 1910.147 Control of
Hazardous Energy, provide best prac-
tices that can be applied immedi-
ately, discuss some common issues
and discuss some methods to ensure
your program is compliant. Informa-
Press. Letters should be limited to
300 words. Deadline: Noon Monday.
the cow and calf away before
hoisting the couple, one by
one, to the trailhead, where
Solano County medics trans-
ported them to a local hospital.
Officials did not release
the hikers’ names.
According to the park bro-
chure, Lynch Canyon is a
working ranch on the Solano
Land Trust northeast of the
Bay Area. Grazing sheep and
cattle help minimize weeds
and wildfire risk.
Cows are protective of
their young, and visitors are
advised not to get between a
calf and its mother cow, the
brochure warns.
“Cattle are not aggres-
sive by nature,” the brochure
says, “but they are curious
about the visitors that share
their trails.”
tion: 208-426-3820, janehokanson@
techhelp.org Website: https://tech-
help.regfox.com/lockouttagout
features rodeo events and entertain-
ment. Website: http://tfcfair.com
Dairy .......................................................7
THURSDAY SEPT. 17
Opinion ...................................................6
CALENDAR
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Index
WEDNESDAY-
MONDAY SEPT. 2-7
Twin Falls County Fair: Twin Falls
County Fairgrounds, Filer, Idaho. The fair
will include exhibits, judged FFA and
4-H shows, entertainment and carnival
rides. Website: https://www.tfcfair.com/
THURSDAY-SUNDAY
SEPT. 3-6
The Magic Valley Stampede:
Twin Falls County Fairgrounds, Filer,
Idaho. The Magic Valley Stampede
Small Farm School 2020
(online): Small Farm School 2020
has reconfigured its offerings to
present a webinar series that will
be offered twice weekly from 6:30
to 8 p.m. Tuesdays and Thursdays
starting on Sept. 17 and running
through Nov. 19. Registration for
the school is open. Website: http://
blogs.oregonstate.edu/smallfarm-
school/ Fee: $35 Contact: Clint Tay-
lor, 979-820-3980 or clint.taylor@
oregonstate.edu
Markets .................................................10
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