Can Agritourism Save the Family Farm?

SPECIAL PARTNER FEATURE

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At a time when the number of family farms is declining, San Diego’s farming community needs your support more than ever. With more small farms than any other county in California, we truly have a backyard bounty to experience. As small farmers living in Ramona, my husband Micole and I love sharing our passion for gardening, raising chickens, farming wine grapes, and wine production. As the cost of travel increases, I’d like to encourage you to stay local and explore our foothill community of Ramona to taste what’s growing.

On a trip to Italy in 2005, our stay on a farm outside of Sienna included waking to the sound of a rooster, which was fitting as we were in Chianti, enjoying a breakfast consisting of fresh eggs and juice, and looking forward to wine tasting later that day. From this journey, a vision was born. Fast forward 20 years and my husband and I have been growing grapes and making wine on our farm, Ramona Ranch, ever since. My passion for wine making and farming grows stronger each afternoon. Nothing compares to relaxing with a glass of wine and dinner made from the grapes and produce grown on our farm while overlooking the vineyard.

Our on-site tasting room had humble beginnings. We started out making wine in our garage and serving it on our home patio. We added an orchard, a garden, more vineyards, and farm animals. We opened our current on-site TasteSpace and wine production building in 2022 and now offer wine tastings Thursday through Monday; we are also able to host classes, educational experiences, and live music.

We have found our guests are interested in farming and learning what it takes to live an agrarian lifestyle, and we are happy to share as we learn more about the risks of overly processed food and wine. Did you know a glass of wine is only around 120 calories and that ours is made from 100% Ramona grapes without flavorings or additives?

Simply put, agritourism is when guests are hosted on a farm to see how and where food and its by-products are grown and made—but it’s much more than that. It’s sitting down with a young adult and talking about energy generated on-site. It’s explaining that yes, pickles come from cucumbers, and no, you don’t need a rooster for hens to lay eggs. We’ve found the reward is in sharing a sense of pride in a product—in our case, wine made with love in a manner that is good for the farm and good for you, rather than something mass-produced with a list of ingredients we can’t pronounce.

Customers are curious ... and this is where agritourism and farming intersect. A visit to Ramona Ranch Winery might include spending time with our guests and explaining how we use barn cats, owl boxes, and raptor perches, rather than rodenticides, to control our vertebrate pests. Native cover crops encourage plant diversity, which increases food for baby birds and attracts other birds to eat bugs, reducing pest pressure in the vineyard. Silt ponds along with solar and wind generators work together toward reducing energy consumption, while tensiometers track vineyard water consumption, processes that supplement each other and create a healthy environment. As San Diego’s first and only certified sustainable vineyard and winery, we’ve decided to leave a percentage of our property undeveloped, with plans for future walking trails and educational signage displaying the significance of the choices we can all make to encourage biodiversity and protect wildlife.

An agritourism day trip to Ramona might start with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and a breakfast of farm-fresh eggs at a family-owned restaurant. Follow this up with a hike at one of Ramona’s open preserves (Ramona Grasslands is a personal favorite). Then swing by one of our many fruit and farm stands before indulging in an afternoon of wine tasting while snacking on fresh, local produce.

A visit to a winery gets you outside and connects you with where and how grapes are grown and how wine is made. We enjoy connecting with and educating visitors about our wines, most of which are vineyard- and varietal-specific, meaning one type of grape, from one specific vineyard—the opposite of mass farming.

Your support is important to our local wine community. The number of active and planned wineries in the county rose to 166 in 2023, a 4% increase from the previous year—and most of them are considered boutique or micro-wineries. This growth in wineries also led to more jobs in the sector with an estimated 802 jobs in 2023, a 13% increase from 2022. However, an informal survey of the Ramona Valley Vineyard Association members in May of this year reported that 99% of the respondents have seen a decrease in on-site sales and customers this year. This is where you can help. When visiting a local winery, ask where their grapes are grown. If they are from San Diego, or as in our case Ramona, you know your dollars spent are staying local.

A great local resource for farmers is the UC Cooperative Extension Agritourism program in San Diego County. Led by Ramiro Lobo, it supports farm producers in agritourism through peer-to-peer learning and problem-solving for economic viability. Goals include strengthening ties with the regional tourism industry and assisting producers in developing effective business, financial, and marketing plans. Funded by the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center, the team offers various learning opportunities to enhance networking and strengthen the local agritourism industry. We hosted their last workshop and are excited about the support they offer.

Come by in the spring and pick up a bouquet of locally grown flowers. Summer is perfect for lazy afternoons at the winery, while fall is a time for dusting off those sweaters and boots as we relish in the cooler evenings and anticipation of harvest. Though you might not think of winter as the time for wine tasting, it’s actually a great opportunity to catch us when we’re moving a little slower. There’s more time for conversations and community, and with our near-perfect weather, there is always something new at the local farm stands. San Diegans know and love the outdoors, and the growing popularity of agritourism is crucial to the survival of small family wineries.

My many winery, farming, and ranching neighbors and I invite you to learn more about all the scenic, tasty, and memorable experiences waiting for you just a short drive away. Cheers!

» teri@ramonaranchwines.com

» ramonaranchwines.com

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