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THROWING TOMATOES
 | | Fred Hempel, your source for farming small in the Bay Area |
How fast can you produce a new variety? What are "organic," "certified organic," "bio-organic"? How did your little operation survive the economic meltdown? These questions and more were asked of Fred Hempel, local farmer extraordinaire, today's speaker.
Fred is a breeder/farmer/co-owner of Baia Nicchia Farm & Nursery (Gourmet for the Bay) in Sunol. His is the Artisan approach. Most small farmers or ranchers generally are late in their careers and have made their money elsewhere. To make it in a small operation, one either has to be recognized as Artisan or manages to sell to select high-end customers.
He has been breeding unique tomatoes since 2002 and producing seedlings since 2005. Among his varieties (pictured on the screen, which cooperated for once): Julienne cherry tomato (particularly the "blush" elongated variety) which has a sweet tropical flavor and keeps well at room temperature, Maglia Rosa cherry tomato, his initial product for which he gave away seeds, and another of the fruits of his early labors, believe it or not, is "Spike." an award winner the last two years, bred originally in country gardens and back yards.
It's not only tomatoes. There is unique squash, resulting from mining seed catalogues from other countries - for example, Galeux d'Eysine from France and Zeppelin Delicata from Italy. One from Fred's breeding program is Terremoto, translated "Earthquake" because of its durability and longevity. Triable from Australia keeps for two years. The list goes on. Ethiopian cabbage. Mareko Fana peppers, a part of Gray Dog tea which made its appearance in the flesh, so to speak.
Who buys these certified organic delights? It could be commodity wholesalers, high end wholesalers or retailers. The strategy is to have high end unique products, partner with restaurants to develop and promote, and hopefully cultivate the top chefs. Another strategy is to develop local farm produce and gourmet CSAs (formerly "weekly boxes" to cut out the middle man, but now just subscription services).
The economic problems of 2008-09 definitely had a negative effect on demand. But prices in 2010 were back to pre-2008 levels. Demand is still down but slowly increasing.
Fred's next target is Diablo Foods. Is anybody listening?
Kevin Croak gave the initial introduction, saying that Fred Hempel was a Golden Bear Ph.D. in plant biology, then a community college instructor, then a senior scientist, but his heart clearly is in local farming. We can do it in our back yard, he seems to be telling us.
MYSTERY JAILBIRD
 | | Of course he was innocent. That's what they all say. |
Who spent the night before the 1974 Big Game in the UC Berkeley jail under Sproul Hall? That was the Mystery Rotarian clue stumping most everyone. Turns out to be Innocent Ernie Furtado. Someone else in his entourage knocked the sign over during the late night trek to Top Dog, and the cop swept the whole menagerie into the net. Important thing was Ernie was released in time for the Game, which started a string of consecutive Big Games which has now reached 37 straight. (We didn't dare inquire how many of them Cal has won. On second thought, hey, Ernie, how many?)
He quickly turned the conversation to son David of Campolindo, who just won the league championship wrestling in the 114-pound division. This cost the jailbird $1 for each pound, donated to the Club Endowment.
PADDLING THE CANOE
Pat Flaharty kindly invited everyone to the Fulcher Man-Cave Shop to check out the canoe. Seems that Gary, who was concerned about each quarter-inch of measurement during the work, wildly and wantonly ripped away at the inside veneer until it reluctantly came off the plug. The canoe is taking shape and is available for inspection on Monday 1:00-5:00, Tuesday 9:00-1:00, Wednesday 5:00-9:00 p.m., and Friday 9:00-1:00. Drop by and see if you believe it will float. Someone ought to start a pool ... or a lake... or something, don't you think?
 | | Gary's man-cave. Interior is even prettier! |
 | | Gary's first canoe, vintage 1996 |
 | | Charlie, watchdog/canoe superintendant |
 | | Canoe taking shape from inside out on movable plug |
 | | Strawboss Gary actually working. Paul B. sands up a literal storm. |
 | | Pat's contemplating while Bob, Kevin and Ken seem to know what they're doing |
 | | Ken, Ron, Denny Dingman patiently waiting for Gary to barbecue their lunch. |
 | | All the tools any skilled wood worker needs |
 | | Stalwarts Ken and Spike making difficult executive decisions |
 | | And the beat goes on! |
DO THEY HAVE A WEBSITE!
You betcha, says Krysten Laine. The Motorama site is up, and payment can be made on line for Motorama tickets. Gala tickets, $100, will include sit down dinner catered by Delicious Dave Isenberg, live music, and live auction dangling such goodies as the new mountain home north of Lake Tahoe built by Tom and Pat Black.
TOUGH LIFE OF AN EXCHANGE STUDENT
 | | Arianne experiences snow for the first time |
Speaking of Tahoe, the first picture shown by Arianne in her weekly show was Lake Tahoe with 18 other serious exchange students. This was followed by an official photo of her first skiing experience, complete with "Hero" designation and face paint. Other pics included a conference with other exchange students, family, Monterey, and Academy of Sciences.
SPIKE SEES IT ALL
 | | Grab those bikes and let's go! |
Spike Speicher has lost no time in getting into worthy causes after becoming a member here. He and that Jailbird Ernie will be involved in Cycle for Sight, an event headed by Napa Rotary. If any further inducement is needed to tempt you to indulge in thrills and spills and sore muscles, there will be a wine festival following the race. It's on April 16th, and their website of www.cycle4sight.com has all the dope.
CELEBRATIONS
Seven years ago our Prez Peeks was a wide-eyed rookie appearing for the first time.
Two years ago Dave Waal and Dave Isenberg both joined. Mr. Waal was not here. Mr. Isenberg lost $20. Mr. Isenberg may be speaking to Mr. Waal about the unfairness of it all.
Skip McCowan is doing all the right things for Linda's birthday, including tonight at Postino with kids and other S.O.s.
Hays Englehart and daughter Erin, born one day apart, invited Oscar to their joint - er, mutual -- celebration, for which Hays did the cookin'. Erin is the wife of Josh Cooley of Pixar fame, mother of Hays' granddaughter Lola, and the graphic designer who did our logo "I Get It," the HOME Team logo and the Motorama logo.
 | | Silent no more |
Steve Ware was here after a lengthy and quiet absence. The quiet part is what concerned us most. To listen to him, that's something to celebrate, what with sick kids, longer hours at the retail salt mine, etc. If he'd spared us the speech, he might not have been penalized, as the Prez recognized him not for missing meetings, but for the speech. Steve didn't suffer financially because of having been recognized so often in the past. He picked his original sponsor, Pat Flaharty, to cough up.
GUESTS
Rotarians: Alicia Creighton, Lafayette Noon Club
Others: Miriam Worsham (not Yeager)
Ashley Englehart, job hunting, dolphin experience on her resumé
Fred Hempel, speaker
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
 | | Today's scribe Cal, with co-star Gary |
From this scribe: "Moving forward makes one stronger, moving backward makes one weaker, and standing still is just another way of moving forward because the world will move forward with or without us." So this newsletter, moving backward, may be weak but still moved forward.
CALENDAR
Friday, March 11 - Postino, 7 a.m. - The Great Walter Nelson
Friday, March 25 - TGITLFOTM, Chuck Yeager's, 5:30 p.m.
Friday, April 29 - TGITLFOTM, Tom Black's 5:30 p.m.
Friday, May 27, TGITLFOTM, Mark Roberts', 5:30 p.m.
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