Public Farm
The Masumoto Family Farm is a working farm; days are full of hard work,
sweat, and pleading with the weather gods. There are not enough hours
in the day to both show our work and do our work year round. At the
same time, the Masumotos are committed to making stories of and from the
farm part of public discourse and consciousness.
We have "gone public" through Mas's literary 'farming' and also through the Masumoto family's educational 'farming.' Every year the Masumotos take time to share their stories and knowledge of the land at special conferences, workshops, and gatherings. In addition the Masumotos have created an annual ritual of linking people to their farm through a Peach Adoption Program. Some might even call it a radical form of "consumer education" that dissolves the boundaries between farmer, eater, the land, and community.
See the historical timeline to learn more about the Masumoto family.
Shop at our Online Marketplace
The Masumotos have been working to expand how we can share our story and our peaches in new and creative ways. To launch our Online Marketplace, we’re offering our “Artisan Dried Organic Peach Slices.” Very shortly, the Masumoto Family Farm Online Marketplace will include a variety of goods for purchase: personally autographed books by David Mas Masumoto, “Masumoto Peach Corps” Organic T-shirts, and more.
The 2010 Peach Tree Adoption Program application period is now closed.
News from-
THE HUFFINGTON POST December 29, 2009
Environmental journalist Posted: December 29, 2009 04:04 PM
Best Environmental Journalism of 2009
Major news organizations are cutting science reporters, stoking fears that important journalism on environmental issues is in danger of drying up.
Yet OnEarth magazine still managed to find plenty of good work to celebrate this year -- and not just in our own pages! So we asked our staff and contributors to recommend the books, magazine articles, newspaper stories and online reporting that had the greatest impact on them in 2009. Here are the results:
Wisdom of the Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacies from the Land
David Mas Masumoto (Free Press)
Behind every organic label you see in your grocery store or food co-op, there's a story. Many of them aren't very interesting. Catering to the likes of Wal-Mart, an increasing number of organic farms are large-scale, corporate-owned operations, not all that different from conventional farms in their soulless methods of mass-production. In Wisdom of the Last Farmer, David Mas Masumoto tells the most fascinating kind of story, reminding us that, at its best and most authentic, organic farming requires not only soul, but intimate knowledge of place, a deep grasp of subjects ranging from plant physiology to tractor repair, and unrelenting physical labor. Masumoto here continues the chronicle of his family's 80-acre fruit farm in California's Central Valley that he introduced in his memorable 1996 book, Epitaph for a Peach. Chapter 1 begins on a February day when his 76-year-old father suffers a stroke while disking weeds between rows of 100-year-old grapevines. Nearing despair as the price of heirloom peaches declines along with his father's health, Masumoto weaves an inspiring yet unflinchingly honest narrative of redemption and healing. The book teaches us that, ultimately, a healthy food chain is about the careful, labor-intensive cultivation of human relationships right along with the earth. -- Craig Canine, contributing editor
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-dodd/best-environmental-journa_b_406416.html
IN THE NEWS!
Part of our "calling" on the farm is to give back to the community. Some nice news - an online article about "farmers making a difference" features our farm and our work with the Marjaree Mason Center a shelter for women and children in Fresno, California.
Here's the direct link to "our" section in the article, posted on Epicurious.com (the online partner/link with Bon Appetit and Gourmet magazines) - Epicurious.com - Masumoto Family Farm.