Garden club presents 'Organic Farming in S. Morro Hills'

Avocado and coffee grow side by side at the Mraz Family Farms. Village News/Courtesy photo

FALLBROOK – The program at Fallbrook Garden Club's Sept. 24 general meeting will feature the transformation of 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 nine years and assisting her husband, Justin, who manages the farm, 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 communications 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 she began growing her own medicinal 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, with social time at 12:45 p.m., the business meeting at 1:15 p.m. and the program at 2 p.m.

Guests are asked to stop by the Membership Table for a guest name tag. For further information relating to the club and its activities, visit http://www.fallbrookgardenclub.org.

Submitted by the Fallbrook Garden Club.