Fallbrook Garden Club presents 'Organic Farming in S Morro Hills'

FALLBROOK – The program at Fallbrook Garden Club's Tuesday, Feb. 27, general meeting features transforming a 50-year-old Avocado Grove into a Biodiverse Organic Fruit Farm. Rachel Jonte has been part of Mraz Family Farms, an Oceanside avocado, coffee and passionfruit farm, since its inception in 2015.

Residing on the land as it has transformed over the past eight years and assisting her husband Justin Jonte who manages the farm, Rachel Jonte will share about the unique experience of transitioning to certified organic farming, growing coffee, avocado and other fruit trees, building soil health, biodiversity and pollinator habitats and her own personal interests in gardening and herbalism.

Jonte has a background in science and communication and spent over 20 years in an intense career in nonprofit fundraising, mainly for organizations focused on scientific research including neuroscience, immunology and ovarian cancer.

After moving to South Morro Hills in 2015, the land and plants beckoned her to study herbalism, and Jonte began growing her own medicine plants resulting in a garden of over 75 different herbs that she uses to create tinctures, salves, teas and other herbal medicines in her home apothecary. Today Jonte helps manage the farm with administrative tasks, labor, staff support, sales and communications.

General meetings are held at the Fallbrook Community Center, 341 Heald Lane, at 12:30 p.m. for social time; at 1 p.m. for the business meeting and at 2 p.m. for the program. The public is welcome. Stop by the membership table for a guest name tag. For more information, visit http://www.fallbrookgardenclub.org.

Submitted by Fallbrook Garden Club.