Our Roots
Good Humus is a diversified farm supporting three families and producing mixed fruits and vegetables, herbs, flowers and value-added agricultural products year-round.
We are committed to develop intensively rather than extensively and to market locally or regionally rather than nationally or internationally.
Good Humus Produce is a small family farm, owned and run by Jeff and Annie Main. We farm 20 acres of certified organic land in a little valley called the Hungry Hollow in Northern California’s Yolo County. The other members of our farm family are our three children, Zachary, Alison, and Claire, who help out as much as possible.
Jeff and Annie Main are both
fourth-generation Californians with a family history in agriculture. We
started farming in 1976 after graduating from UC Davis where Jeff graduated with
a Civil Engineering degree and Annie graduated with a Bachelor of Science in
Renewable Natural Resources.
The love of growing food, living on the less traveled path and doing something meaningful came from generations of strong-minded individuals. Cooperation, communities, social change, food movement and land stewardship have been our guiding beliefs in one form or another since the 1970's.
Francisco Montez has been with us since 1980 and this farm is his creation as
well as ours. (We're happy to announce that Francisco recently became
an American citizen, felicitaciones!)
We have a team of employees who help us during the ups and downs of the seasonal harvest
The farming season in the Central Valley of California is year round. It is truly a paradise, where an abundance of food is produced. The summer season begins around the first of June and will continue through the first frost around November or December, but with the mild winters, we are able to produce fruits and vegetables through all year.
Our family farm started on a
fallow milo field and we have been literally been building from the ground up to
provide food for people in our community. After years of planting and growing,
our native hedgerow windbreak and the golden rolling hills dominate our
landscape.
We have broken our fields into eights sets of 2.5 acre fields that contain mixed fruit orchards, framed by California native hedgerows, cover crops, annual and perennial herbs and flowers, and vegetables.
With the knowledge handed down from our parents and grandparents, we also produce unique jams and jellies from our own fruit and herbs, dry tons of our fruit in the California sun, and make wreaths from the dried herbs and flowers.
From the beginning we have been dedicated to growing food organically, learning to care take the land, and with this we have created a very diverse cropping, a rich habitat for native species, and the base for a viable family farm.
Community Relations
Since 1976 we at Good Humus have been selling organically grown food to a highly supportive group of people at the Davis Food Coop, the Davis Farmer's Market and the Sacramento Natural Food Coop.
Starting in 1993 we have been providing food for
consumers in Davis, Woodland, Sacramento and now, San Francisco through our
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) weekly subscription box program.
With the development of the CSA came the realization for more education of what is happening on the farm, in agriculture and the need for people to become aware of the food they eat. We became increasingly involved with local school district's lunch programs and farm-to-school visits, hosting spring visits to 2nd graders.
In 2001 we opened our farm to a summer program emphasizing regional environmental awareness for inner city school students to learn about the roll farms play in the use of water in our state.