Lucila De Alejandro's guest appearances

Lucila De Alejandro

Farmer to Farmer with Chris Blanchard

San Diego Magazine's Happy Half Hour

David Warner

Anthony Bourdain

Ben Hartman

Dave Chapman

Daniel Boulud

Erick Castro

Dan Brisebois

Curtis Stone

Karl Hammer

Javier Plascencia

Andrew Weil

Eric Greenspan

Chris Field

Richard Blais

Michael Mina

OwlTail

On today’s Happy Half Hour podcast, hosts Erin Chambers Smith, Troy Johnson, and producer Archana Ram talk restaurant openings, including Fools and Kings in Mission Hills and Park 101 in Carlsbad Village. Our special guest is Catt White, the CEO of San Diego Markets and the force behind some of the city’s largest and most successful farmers markets, including Little Italy Mercato. She chats with us about what it takes to be a bonafide “farmers market” and how the city can better serve our farmers and producers. Joining the conversation is Lucila De Alejandro, co-owner of Suzie’s Farm, the 70-acre organic farm that recently announced it’ll be shutting down. She talks about why the farm is closing, the future of agriculture in San Diego, and what listeners can do to help. Also, is cannabis the savior of farming? Let’s discuss.

On today’s Happy Half Hour podcast, hosts Erin Chambers Smith, Troy Johnson, and producer Archana Ram talk restaurant openings, including Fools and Kings in Mission Hills and Park 101 in Carlsbad Village. Our special guest is Catt White, the CEO of San Diego Markets and the force behind some of the city’s largest and most successful farmers markets, including Little Italy Mercato. She chats with us about what it takes to be a bonafide “farmers market” and how the city can better serve our farmers and producers. Joining the conversation is Lucila De Alejandro, co-owner of Suzie’s Farm, the 70-acre organic farm that recently announced it’ll be shutting down. She talks about why the farm is closing, the future of agriculture in San Diego, and what listeners can do to help. Also, is cannabis the savior of farming? Let’s discuss.

Ep. 53: Lucila De Alejandro from Suzie’s Farm and Catt White of San Diego Markets

Lucila de Alejandro owns and operates Suzie’s Farm with her husband, Robin Taylor. Located three miles from the Pacific Ocean and three miles from the Mexican border, Suzie’s Farm got its start in 2004, and has provided fresh, organic produce to the San Diego area through a CSA, farmers markets, and sales to restaurants and grocers. As a 70-acre urban farm, Suzie’s Farm provides a rare blend of tractor-scale farming just minutes from the urban core, and Lucila and Robin leveraged their geography and scale to grow rapidly as the local food scene in San Diego took off – but when that local food scene leveled off, they were faced with making hard decisions to save the farm and their relationship. Lucila shares the process they used for making those hard decisions, including a technique with the acronym POEM. We also dig into how she and Robin have created a loyal workforce that carries Lucila’s energy and enthusiasm out into the community, how they use farm tours to engage the community and build their customer base, and how vegetable farming works in the Mediterranean climate of San Diego. The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by Vermont Compost Company.

Lucila de Alejandro owns and operates Suzie’s Farm with her husband, Robin Taylor. Located three miles from the Pacific Ocean and three miles from the Mexican border, Suzie’s Farm got its start in 2004, and has provided fresh, organic produce to the San Diego area through a CSA, farmers markets, and sales to restaurants and grocers. As a 70-acre urban farm, Suzie’s Farm provides a rare blend of tractor-scale farming just minutes from the urban core, and Lucila and Robin leveraged their geography and scale to grow rapidly as the local food scene in San Diego took off – but when that local food scene leveled off, they were faced with making hard decisions to save the farm and their relationship. Lucila shares the process they used for making those hard decisions, including a technique with the acronym POEM. We also dig into how she and Robin have created a loyal workforce that carries Lucila’s energy and enthusiasm out into the community, how they use farm tours to engage the community and build their customer base, and how vegetable farming works in the Mediterranean climate of San Diego. The Farmer to Farmer Podcast is generously supported by <a href="http://vermontcompost.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Vermont Compost Company</a>.

090: Lucila De Alejandro of Suzie’s Farm on Saying Yes, Getting Smaller, and Getting Workers and Community to Invest in the Farm