Filigreen Farm
Biodynamic & Biodiverse
by Torrey Douglass
A number of years ago, while visiting the farmhouse at Filigreen Farm, I was walking by a picturesque pond with farmer Stephanie Tebbutt. “Has that pond always been there?” I asked. I’d been in the valley for a few years and had seen very few natural ponds, but plenty of constructed reservoirs plopped onto the landscape with the aesthetic feel of a mound of preschooler’s playdough dropped on the floor. ”No, we put that in ourselves,” Stephanie responded, and I marveled at how seamlessly the body of water blended into the landscape, organically shaped and encircled by native grasses, looking like it’d been there since time began.
In fact, the pond was built in 2001, twenty years after Stephanie and Chris Tebbutt first drove up Highway 128 from Mendocino into Taa-Bo-Tah, or Long Valley, as the Tabahtea Pomo First Peoples called Anderson Valley. They were two horticulturists looking for soil, water, and a climate that would open its doors to the diversity of the temperate plant kingdom. Their search had carried them all over the northwest and as far as Puget Sound, but it wasn’t until they arrived in Anderson Valley that they found the land they sought—unique climatic conditions ripe with potential, land “where the walnut meets the grape.”
Originally homesteaded in 1906 by the Farrer family, Filigreen Farm is positioned at the narrowest stretch of Anderson Valley at a site where two distinct climate zones meet: the moist zone on the north and east slopes, originating in Alaska and including the temperate forests of the Pacific Northwest; and on the opposite hillsides, the warmer Mediterranean zone that comes up from the south, characterized by a combination of open rangeland and oak woodland. The interplay of these two climatic qualities makes for the richness and diversity of the place, on a particularly human scale.
In order to preserve the natural beauty and agricultural legacy of its 97 acres, the Farrer’s old ranch is now held for posterity by the Yggdrasil Land Foundation. An additional easement with the Anderson Valley Land Trust ensures the protection of the farm from non-agricultural development or logging. The Tebbutts, who made their home next door in 1982, facilitated a lease for the property in 2004, and Filigreen Farm was begun.
Both Chris and Stephanie studied horticulture in the UK, after apprenticeships at the Round Valley Garden project with Alan Chadwick, then worked as landscape designers prior to turning to farming full time. They have largely chosen a perennial form of agriculture, with orchards, vines, and berry crops making up the lion’s share of production. Over the past twenty years, the existing Gala apple orchard has been diversified through a grafting program that has brought over forty varieties into production, all on a trellis system with semi-dwarf rootstock. This approach allows workers to prune trees and pick fruit while keeping their feet on the ground.
Starting with Maiden’s Blush in mid-July (from the time of Shakespeare and tasting like roses), and ending with Hauer Pippin in early December (the “Christmas Apple”), the apple harvest spans much of Filigreen’s harvest season. Tried-and-true favorites such as Granny Smith, Pink Lady, and Fuji are punctuated by heirlooms like Ribston Pippin and White Winter Pearmain and the trialing of newer varieties such as Z-Star and Winecrisp.
Other crops include Pinot Noir and Pinot Gris, 18 varieties of table grapes, and a delectable variety of pears, including the sweet and spicy Warren pear and the Hosui Asian pear, a favorite that tastes like maple syrup but with juice and crunch. Blueberries are a signature crop at Filigreen, with multiple varieties that make for a six-week season in early summer, provided they are spared an extended hot spell. While no match in complexity of flavors for the farm’s early, more “wild” varieties such as Sharp Blue and Misty, Chandler, the high bush cultivar, is the star at the farm. Its large, juicy berries—sometimes almost comically large, the size of a small cherry—ripen at the very end of the season. The olive orchard, also on a trellis system to allow for mechanized harvesting, is comprised mainly of the Spanish varieties Arbequina and Arbosana, and a small amount of the ltalian Leccino and Frontoio. The olives are harvested in the fall and cold pressed at Olivino’s certified organic facility in Hopland to create an outstanding, vividly fresh olive oil brimming with flavor.
The diversity and variety of crops on the farm is part of the biodynamic farming methods employed at Filigreen. Biodynamics can be defined as a holistic and ecological approach to agriculture that manages the farm as a living, breathing, and self-sustaining organism. These practices seek to integrate scientific understanding with recognition of spirit in nature. “ln biodynamics we like to say, ’Just because you can’t see it doesn’t mean it isn’t there,’” quipped Stephanie. “There is nothing new about this. The principles of biodynamics can be found woven into origin and indigenous forms of agriculture the world over. It goes without saying that the greater the diversity, the greater the life force. Add to that the horticultural challenge and fascination in expressing the diversity of a particular genus—not just a diversity of species, but the varieties within that species—and you get to practice at what nature does with her generous hand.”
Timing on harvests, with a wide array and overlapping ripeness of crops, makes for a lively exchange between field and packing shed. Field Manager Edgar Serna, who has lived and worked at the farm alongside his extended family for thirteen years, says, “We pick for color and sugar, so a lot of tasting goes into the decision. Each type of blueberry, for example, ripens differently. The same for table grapes. We have breakfast in the field a lot!”
A key aspect of biodynamics includes running the farm as a self-sustaining system. To do that, Filigreen relies on a tiny, prehistoric plant which first appeared in the irrigation pond about ten years ago, likely hitchhiking on the feet of native waterfowl stopping by to take a splash.
Thinking it might be an invasive weed, Chris identified it, only to realize it was manna from heaven! Azolla filiculoides is a minute and primitive aquatic fern that lives in symbiotic relationship with a cyanobacteria, resulting in a “super organism” made up of two fused genuses. When growing conditions are at their optimum, azolla has the ability to double its biomass in a matter of days. In early spring, the Filigreen team can harvest twenty trailer loads off the pond, leaving a clear surface, and then repeat the process a month later, when a carpet of azolla has, again, achieved complete coverage.
The cyanobacteria hosted by azolla captures nitrogen from the air as a source of nourishment for the fern. When harvested and integrated into the soil, it provides the same percent of nitrogen, per ton, as manure. It’s like having a herd of cattle providing ongoing fertilization, or “vegan manure” for the soil. But there’s more.
Back in the Eocene epoch, when the Arctic Circle was a warm, fresh-water lake over the salt sea, “the plant that changed the world”1 covered over 800,000 square kilometers. At the time, the Arctic would have been home to primitive hippos and crocodiles instead of polar bears and walrus—and azolla, which flourished in those conditions.
Over a period of about a million years, azolla, with its unsurpassed capacity to sequester carbon on a big scale, would draw carbon and nitrogen out of the atmosphere, complete its life cycle, then drop to the bottom of the sea. On the surface, a new flush of azolla would begin the process all over again. The draw-down was something in the region of tens of trillions of tons of carbon, all of it buried in the ultimate safe-deposit box: the bottom of the sea. It was this humble plant that cooled the climate of the earth, triggering an entirely new wave of evolution, such that plant and animal life that we recognize today could begin to evolve and flourish.
The final plot twist is worthy of a Greek tragedy: all of that azolla that sank to the bottom of the salt sea became the gas and oil reserves now being mined, fought over, and exploited in the Arctic. In other words, the plant that cooled the earth is being hauled from the deep to burn as fossil fuel and warm the planet back up again.
Today azolla is a critical component of Filigreen’s soil health. Chris shared, “The heart of any farm is its fertility program. Biodynamic farming calls for that fertility to come from within the farm, itself, with a minimum of borrowed outside inputs.”
The bounty that comes from the azolla-enriched soil is available from late spring into fall at Velma’s Farm Stand, named after the wife of Buster Farrer. The farm was originally homesteaded by the Farrer family in 1906, following European colonization. One of thirteen children, Buster was given the ranch to farm and live on, which he and Velma did for the following 63 years. They grew alfalfa, raised cattle, planted an apple orchard and for many years had a “truck farm” or summer garden where Velma grew all manner of vegetables. These she sold from their little red barn just off Highway 128. Anyone heading to Philo from Boonville today will find it hard to miss the sign on the roof of that refurbished barn: Velma’s Farm Stand at Filigreen Farm.
Once the first flush of spring vegetables comes in, the stand is open to the public each weekend. Throughout the season, people can find fresh produce as well as flowers and value-added goods, like the fantastic Filigreen olive oil or dried fruit. The onset of the pandemic in 2020 magnified the need for locally produced food, and the farm stand made accessibility a key focus. Velma’s accepts CalFresh EBT and offers Market Match so that customers can double their food dollars when purchasing fresh, biodynamic fruit and vegetables.
The stand also sells beautiful bouquets of flowers, sourced from a diversity of flowering plants, both perennial and annual. The plants attract and support beneficial insects like native bees, hover flies, bumblebees, predatory flies, lacewings, Lady bugs, moths, and even ground-dwelling beetles and spiders. Production Manager, Annie Courtens, has expanded both the flowers and vegetables grown on the farm for the marketplace. “Bringing a bit of wild origin species to the cut flower market has been an opportunity to educate customers and florists about these unique flowers, that oftentimes are longer lasting, more vibrant, and more fragrant than their commercial counterparts,” shared Annie.
Sometimes Annie can be found at Velma’s on a summer weekend, chatting with shoppers as they peruse a wide array of seasonal produce and products—leafy greens and cellar staples, stone and pip fruit, berries, dried fruit, olive oil, flowers, wreaths, and herbs. The exceptional quality and variety of the stand’s offerings seem pulled from an Old World oil painting depicting a table heavy with the largesse of the land. The abundance reflects the farm’s devotion to sustainability, biodiversity, and responsible land stewardship—all realized on the liminal stretch of Anderson Valley where the walnut meets the grape.
Jessica’s life as a flower farmer has not always been this organized. The birth of the flower farm plan got off to a rough start. When the idea sparked in September 2018, farm planning began almost immediately, but then a devastating house fire in early November destroyed not only the family’s home and belongings, but the supply of seeds and bulbs purchased for that season. Yet through an outpouring of love and support from the community, Jessica’s dreams were still able to come to fruition that season on a new piece of land much better suited for the project due to its larger growing space. It was truly a silver lining that allowed the farm to proceed.
The farm itself is considered a “micro-farm,” with approximately ¼ acre in production and an expansion on the horizon. Jessica utilizes no-till farming practices that encourage diverse pollinator habitats, increase healthy soil microbiology, and aid in the reduction of atmospheric carbon released from the ground. The goal is to encourage a community of flora and fauna that work in an interconnected system, fostering health and vitality from the tiniest invertebrates and fungi in the soil, up through to the plants, and beyond to the bees, birds, and humans that enjoy the blooms.
Jessica believes that organic, sustainable farming is the only option for her, though it is no easy task. A no-till farming system can involve a great deal of physical labor. New flower beds are carefully aerated using a large broadfork to minimize soil disturbance and preserve the habitat that thrives below the surface. Next, a layer of cardboard is rolled out for weed suppression, erosion control, and as a bonus food source for worms. The final bed prep task involves spreading a generous layer of compost with basic farming tools: shovel, wheelbarrow, and rake. No tractors are used on this farm, just good old fashioned manual work. FloraQuest strictly uses products certified for organic use, sourced locally if possible, which support the health of the habitats that make up the farm.
Timing is everything when it comes to growing flowers. Each variety is organized into a planting calendar that helps determine when and how many seeds to sow throughout the season. Flower farmers normally follow a succession planting schedule in which any given flower will be planted repeatedly at a specific time interval. For example, sunflowers are planted every one to two weeks to ensure a continuous harvest throughout the entire season. Zinnias are sown every three to four weeks because they produce flowers for a longer period of time between plantings. Seeds are often started in the summer and fall for spring blooms the following season, and overwinter for summer blooms. Planting is best in the cooler evening hours to give the flowers a chance to acclimate and reduce transplant shock. Once in bloom, prime harvest time is early morning when the flowers are most hydrated. Every flower has an ideal stage of harvest—some have the best vase life when harvested early in bloom before the petals even open, some as the petals are just beginning to open, and others once they have blown fully open. Juggling the timing of everything can be a bit tricky, but the rewards are a beautiful, consistent flow of blooms.
So, what happens once the flowers are cut? Sustainably-minded farming practices lead to sustainably minded floral design techniques. Many of FloraQuest’s arrangements are displayed in mason jars, which can be reused by both the customer and the farmer. As an alternative to the toxic foam typically used in the floral industry, larger arrangements for weddings and events are designed with chicken wire to hold the stems in place. Hand-tied bouquets are wrapped in recycled paper sleeves rather than cellophane, and no floral preservatives are used. Additionally, any leftover flowers that have been cut from the field and are suitable for drying are used in the creation of dried flower arrangements and wreaths throughout the autumn season.
As a youngster, Jessica learned and enjoyed floral design by helping her mother in a floral shop near Chicago, where she became familiar with boutonnières, corsages, and wedding bouquets. At that time in her life, it never occurred to her that this would later influence her career choice! Fast forward twenty-some years, and she has taken those elements and made them her own in her budding business.
The beauty of creating something from nature is that there are no strict rules to follow. Texture, mood, and a touch of wild characterize Jessica’s designs today. Highlighting the elements inherent in the blooms is what truly brings her floral arrangements to the next level. She believes that flowers speak in their own sort of language. Flowers can bring people back in time and elicit a sense of nostalgia. They go hand in hand with celebrations of all kinds. They can lift moods, bring peace and calm, and show appreciation or empathy. In short, flowers are used to show someone that you care. With all that we have been going through in the past two years, flowers have increasingly become a beautiful way to nurture emotional well-being and psychological health.
In the coming seasons, Jessica hopes to slowly expand the farm to include more flower beds filled with perennials, native shrubs, and annuals. She is always seeking knowledge on how to become a better steward of the land and coexist harmoniously with the natural rhythms of the creatures that live both above and below the soil. Every season involves some experimenting, whether it be with new varieties of flowers, foliage, and grasses, overwintering frost-hardy plants from the previous season, or companion planting different flowers in the same growing bed. Some of her current interests include Korean Natural Farming (KNF), vermicomposting, seed saving, and vegetative propagation of dahlias and heirloom chrysanthemums. There are always new things to learn and improve upon, and FloraQuest Farm is eager to grow, literally and figuratively, with each season in Mendocino County.
FloraQuest Farm was born out of a passion for environmental stewardship, love for flowers, and desire to share beauty and artistic creativity with the community. Engaging and supporting the fieldto-vase model is what builds strength, stability, and health in the local flower movement in our community. Jessica loves to build relationships and interact with her customers directly, embracing the “get to know your farmer” attitude. Like the local food movement, the local flower movement can bring the beauty of nature into our homes in a way that is better for us, the flower farmers, and the world we share.
Velma’s Farm Stand at Filigreen Farm
11750 Anderson Valley Way, Boonville | FiligreenFarm.com
Jennifer Huizen, ClimateWire, July 15, 2014
Torrey Douglass is a web and graphic designer living in Boonville with her family. Her life’s joys include reading by the fire, cooking something delicious, and inspiring her dogs to jump into the air with uncontained canine happiness.