Mano Farm is a 1.3 acre certified organic seed, vegetable and herb farm located in Ojai, California. We farm year-round, emphasizing the use of human labor and hand tools. On-farm apprenticeship, interns, and work trade opportunities are primarily available through the WWOOF-USA network. We offer Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) memberships to residents of the Ojai Valley and sell our seeds through our sister company, All Good Things Organic Seeds. We are also proponents of food justice, a movement that seeks to increase the availability of nutritious, healthy food to low-income individuals and families. Low income and fully subsidized CSA shares are available, and we also accept EBT/SNAP (food stamp) benefits for CSA payments. Contact us for more details.
Our Mission
- To grow a farm-supported community of individuals and families in the Ojai Valley, offering an abundant, diverse, and affordable source of locally grown organic produce and seeds;
- To promote bioregional resilience and self-reliance;
- To learn and teach the practice of small-scale organic farming.
Mano Farm lies on 1.3 acres of land in the Ojai Valley, and is operated by Justin Huhn and Quin Shakra. We grow vegetables and both medicinal and culinary herbs. We practice small-scale organic farming year-round, emphasizing the use of human labor and hand tools. Our farming methods are aimed at improving the health of the soil through the use of compost, cover cropping, crop rotations, and light amendments of our custom organic fertilizer blend. We do not use insecticides and pesticides on our land. We do not use Genetically Modified Organism (GMO) seeds or grow GMO crops of any kind. We are certified organic by Oregon Tilth.
We make all our farming decisions through consensus, meaning we make each decision in agreement or not at all.
The farm’s primary source of income is our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program, where members invest in the farm seasonally in return for a weekly share of produce. We grow more than 30 distinct crops each year in order to offer our members a nutritionally robust palette of vegetables. We also sell our produce to local markets and restaurants.
In addition to our CSA program, we aim to create a farm-supported community that extends beyond our membership. We host Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) members and regularly offer volunteer days, farm fires, and seasonal celebrations to the larger Ojai community. We offer both adult and childhood education through farm-tours and experiential, hands-on learning.
Our farm is an advocate of food justice, a movement that aims to eliminate the inequalities in the distribution of fresh, nutritious food. We offer fully subsidized and low-income shares through our CSA program, and accept financial donations that are immediately redirected toward the redistribution of food.
Two long-term goals for the farm are:
- Develop and steward regionally-adapted varieties of our vegetable crops, such as carrots, beets, squash, kales/collards, broccoli, lettuces, onions and garlic. The purpose of this is to strengthen the availability of local, open-pollinated seeds, and promote bioregional self-reliance.
- Establish an abundant supply of plants recognized for their medicinal value to promote their use and education in alternative methods of health and well being. Additionally, because many important medicinal plants are overharvested or disappearing from their wild habitats, cultivating these plants will effectively make our farm a plant sanctuary.
For further information, to join our CSA, or make a food-justice donation to our farm, email us at manofarmers@gmail.com or call us at 805.758.3184.
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