Devil’s Gulch closes the loop

Diversification, sustainability and philanthropy:  a conversation with a West Marin farmer

On a recent visit to Devil’s Gulch Ranch in Nicasio Mark and Myriam Pasternak opened up about their farm, their history and their current projects.  It’s been awhile since I’ve actually seen and felt a working family ranch operation in motion with synchronicity and progress.  Being there, reminded me of being with my grandfather on the rodeo grounds in Santa Fe, New Mexico – where he too raised rabbits, chickens, had a pig or two and took care of the horses as the resident groundskeeper.  Going there that day I did not anticipate that memory.  It’s the relationship that Mark and Myriam have with the land that is unmistakable.

Nicasio is a small, West Marin town with a church, a baseball field, a schoolhouse, a druid’s hall and a restaurant.   There are several family farms and agribusinesses – the Lunny’s Rock Quarry, the LaFranchi’s Nicasio Valley Cheese Company, Janet Brown and Marty Jacobson’s Allstar Organics farm, and the Pasternaks Devil’s Gulch, just to name a few.

In 1971 Mark Pasternak bought what today is known as Devil’s Gulch Ranch. It was the passageway between Nicasio Valley and Paper Mill creek. The local history seems to illustrate that the gulch got its name because of the treacherous trail. In 1864 Devil’s Gulch Ranch (873 acres) split off from a larger parcel and was purchased by two Martinelli Brothers, Union Army Civil War officers using their wages to start fresh in California.  The main barn built in 1867 is still in use today. It was part of the dairy farm selling cream and butter. The ranch was passed on from heir to heir until 1969 when John Moreda sold it to a developer who split the ranch into parcels. In 1971 Mark Pasternak purchased the heart of the ranch (65 acres), moved there, and made it what it is today.  The remainder of the 873 acres was purchased by other individuals, and was subsequently purchased by the federal government in 1980, and is now part of the Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA).

Mark and Myriam met in 1980 and shortly thereafter she went off to the Peace Corps for a couple years where she developed a passion for working in developing nations and with animals.  She returned to Nicasio and in 1987 they got married.  Myriam commuted to University of California at Davis from Nicasio where she went to vet school and graduated in 1990.

Mark started his ranch with a few pigs and a couple horses and over the years it’s evolved.  The interest in locally produced foods really drove the Pasternaks to raise rabbits.  “We started 12 years ago with 3 rabbits and a cage,” Myriam says with disbelief  “today we have 1,500 cages and over 3,000 rabbits.”  They are expanding even more due to the demand of local rabbit by the restaurant community and are leasing another facility.  There appears to be a huge interest in rabbit meat.  The demand has been growing and growing.

Myriam teaches rabbit-raising in Haiti.  This side project has now fostered itself into a fervent affair which began over three years ago and has grown out of a lifelong conviction for Myriam, who is by trade a veterinarian.  Her main interest is (and always has been) in International Agricultural Development.  Myriam’s work in Haiti deserves its own post so stay tuned for that piece in the coming months.

I asked Mark if he considers what they were doing on the ranch to be sustainable.  He chuckled, crossed his cowboy boots and tipped his hat… “Sustainable is a great word. It depends on how you are using it.  You can use that word in the context of ecology, economics, socially… all of those have different answers.  The easiest one to answer initially is in terms of economics,” he said.  “No it’s a struggle.  Ten years ago I made the decision to give up real estate and construction because I wanted to focus on doing this and maybe I was overly optimistic that things economically would work themselves out.  So it’s a constant struggle.”

“Our kids college fund is starting to shrink” Myriam chimed in.

“Rural life and farming by definition is all about diversification.  It’s very hard to anticipate anything.  Farming is trial and error all the time – constantly evolving.  You have to want it.  The lifestyle that is.“ says Myriam.

“If you’re going to get into farming for purely economic reasons…  you’re nuts!” Mark says.  “So from a practical standpoint that’s why we have segued into direct marketing to restaurants, selling at the farmer’s markets, doing the summer camp, doing tours and events… it’s a means of diversification in hopes of achieving a financial sustainability” explains Mark.

“It’s a struggle – its constantly finding creative ways to generate income – and I’m talking from the farmer’s standpoint.  Which of course the summer camp is one of them.,” says Mark.  “Often times we come up with these great ideas and then during the implementation phase we discover that it just isn’t happening.  We spend a lot of time and money and invariably it often times turns out to be just the opposite – costing us a lot of time and money.  Trial and error.”  “Like the windmill” says Myriam.  “We really haven’t gotten much use out of it.”  “We’ve gotten zero return on the thing” says Mark.  “And I spent $75,000 on it back in 2004 and it’s been a series of issues and problems since then.”

“Diversification is very important in farming.  If you look at farming it is cyclical.  If you have a monoculture there are highs and lows so by diversifying you help level it out a bit so you don’t experience all your lows at the same time” says Myriam.

Mark has always been interested in ecological sustainability – “our ecological footprint” – long before it was defined and thrown around as a buzzword.  “Well over half of my house was built out of recycled materials – which I did out of necessity.  I worked at a music store in Mill Valley in the 70s – Prune Music – I traded musical instruments, strings and stuff for many of the building materials that built the house.”

Mark also shared with me his relationship with the Hilarita Housing project in Tiburon which was the Naval housing project before it was the housing project it is today.  “They were going to throw the stuff away,” says Mark, “we traded them a bunch of instruments and we were able to acquire enough wood for 3 houses worth of flooring and structural material.  I found doors that came from the dump.  I believe in the concept philosophically but at the time it was pragmatic.”

The ranch runs like a living machine.  The manure that the farm produces is incorporated into fertilizer for the vineyard, the must and pomace from the presses from the wineries that they sell to is re-spread into the compost and the sheep graze and fertilize the vineyards in the winter.  “We try to recycle as much of it as we can and close the loop,” Mark says. “The pigs are fed a byproduct feed of milk and bread.  With the rabbits we try and recycle the hides for the camp and the heads after slaughter for our dogs’ feed.  Our dogs are guardian dogs – they protect the sheep.  We feed them biologically appropriate raw foods (BARF).  Dogs are carnivores…  they should really get raw meats.  We wouldn’t be able to have sheep without our guardian dogs due to how many mountain lions, bobcats, coyotes and golden eagles we have – we had to do away with our free range chickens because it was becoming our wildlife nutritional enhancement project.”

“Pigs just kind of show up with the back to the land mentality – they are the natural garbage disposal.  I’ve had pigs since I moved out here in the 70s.  It segued into me trying to establish a business with them.  I started receiving bi-product feeds:  soy pulp, tortillas, etc.”  Mark was selling pigs on a commodity basis and particularly after the oil crisis in the 70s transportation became an issue.  When gas prices went up he couldn’t make it pencil out but they always kept one piggy around for compost control.

“I pretty much stopped pigs from a business perspective.  Rabbits came about as a huge demand then, restaurants wanted the pigs again right around the same time as Marin Sun Farms’ inception.  Beef is a little easier here.  We have Rancho Slaughter (USDA) right here in Petaluma.  Slaughter and certification is a little simpler.  We do not have a hog facility here locally – the closest being in Orland or Modesto.  So the processing is a little more complicated to work out financially.  Perbacco, Jardiniere, Flour +Water were all willing to belly up.  Delivering one whole pig to one restaurant just isn’t worth it.  Four or Five it is.”

 

Sows and boars free range on their hill, the barn facility has birthing pens – they don’t use crates – instead they work with large pens to keep the babies warm and the sows protected.  When they get older the pigs are weaned and they go to another facility.  The Pasternaks really have to be careful about how much livestock they foster on the ranch and also keep a watchful eye for erosion.

“We also do sheep here on the ranch.  We just started lambing. They go out in the pastures.  The main reason we have the sheep is for grazing in the vineyards in the wintertime.  So that we don’t have to rely on mowing or other chemicals to keep the grass down in the winter.”  There are grapes grown right on the property.  Mark also leases land elsewhere and grows grapes to sell off to winemakers.  Mark has kind of become the Marin authority on grape growing in the county – primarily Pinot Noir.  The Pinot he grows in Nicasio primarily goes to Schramsberg in Calistoga for their sparkling, Dutton Goldfield and also Sean Thackrey the unconventional local winemaker whose cult-classic Andromeda label has brought international attention to his boutique winemaking operation in Bolinas and Devil’s Gulch Ranch.

Devil’s Gulch Summer Camp and Educational Services

I had heard about this camp for several years now and thought it was due time I found out what went on out at Devil’s Gulch Summer Camp.  Why did the Pasternaks decide to take on such a feat?  The Pasternaks explained that lots of parents started to ask about a summer camp – a ranch where people could send their kids.  The former generations spent time on their grandparents’ farms and ranches.  Many kids today have no idea that fruit grows on trees, that milk comes from cows… so seven years ago they started the camp and then turned it into a non-profit organization.  The Pasternakes are continually trying to get grants and they’d like to expand so that they can bring kids in from Marin City and the Canal.

 

“More than a summer camp” the leaflet reads.  “Come swim in our pond, wander our woods, care for critters and relish relationships.  Learn about ranch life from seasoned mentors.  Celebrate connections to food and nature by practicing traditions that have shaped cultures for thousands of years.  This year, watch the seeds of environmental stewardship grow and flourish.”  I’m sold.  Where do I sign up?

Growing up in Marin County there are so many fantastic learning opportunities and character building experiences available to those who can afford to foot the bill.  There are also a great number of opportunities here in our county that are able to offer scholarships, internships, volunteer-work and – something new I learned from the Pasternaks – camperships.

I asked Mark to describe the day in the life of Devil’s Gulch camper and he lit up and spoke with such passion and devotion.  “At 9am – they meet in Nicasio, ride the blue Devil’s Gulch wagon up to the ranch – they do circle games and icebreakers to feel the kids out and see who would like to do what.  We have a variety of activities that are available.  We prefer to organize the daily events based upon interest assessments.  Often they (the campers) come up with their own ideas.  We have a very high staff to camper ratio 1:5.  We have a painter’s palette of opportunities.  Generally we’ll start of with chores relating to animals – feed the pigs, sheep, horses, tend to the garden…

Then they move onto activities:  horseback riding, repelling, welding/forging, archery, swimming… Then we have a lot of stuff centered around traditional skills and crafts: felting, ceramics, brain tanning, tanning hides, dream catchers, rabbit fur pouches, tied flies for fly-fishing using the quail and pheasant feathers that we have here…  then they’d actually head up to the reservoir and attempt to catch some fish.”

Depending on the day there may be animals that need to be castrated, vaccinated, etc.  Often the campers will help with the lambs, piglets, and sheep to do the banding of the tails and castrating.  Other times in the summer it isn’t available or the right time.  Much of what they do here at the camp is about environmental education.  Learning about the flora, the fauna, the ecology and the biology of the area.

 

“We are looking for grant opportunities” Myriam says modestly… “We need money” Mark chimes in.  “Grant writers, opportunities, major donors…  We’re looking for money for camperships and to develop a year-round program – an after-school program.

There was a gap where the Pasternaks didn’t do any summer camps for a number of years due to a few protestors and some bureaucratic issues.  Mark went back to the County in 2003 knowing that the two guys who gave him the hardest time with the camp had been fired (YES! Mark exclaimed) so he was optimistic that they would get approval for the camp.  And they did.  In 2004 they received their use permit for a day camp with port-o-potties.  It was a stretch but they got it.  In 2009 – after seeing what works and what didn’t and what made the camp a success they realized that to make the camp economically viable it needed an overnight component.  “There are too many kids that want to come from farther areas for a day camp,” says Mark.  “Our mission is not to be just a day care center for wealthy Marin kids.”

They went back to the County to expand the use permit to include overnight and increase their numbers.  There had been no complaints and no issues for over five years.  The County said “sounds great” and gave them the permit – the neighbors contested it.  So in the process of going through the appeals it became apparent that the County had tried to do them a favor by determining their application to be categorically exempt from California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  Where in fact they should have required an initial study – which would’ve cost $30,000.00-$40,000.00.  Essentially what the Pasternaks did was pulled the programs for 2009 and 2010 to deal with all the concerns that had arisen.  The campground has to be outside of 100 feet of the creek bed and septic was the new issue.  The Environmental Health & Safety folks wanted them to put in an entire septic system for the overnight component as an “organized camp.”  The EHS does have the right to allow the Pasternaks to have a seasonal portable system – toilets and showers.  The Marin County Council weighed in, divided and its been touch and go.  “NIMBYism at its best.  When you look up NIMBY in the dictionary they have pictures of people from Nicasio.  We recently have acquired some new members in our community who I hope will help shed light on the issue,” says Mark.

Mark and Myriam Pasternak are inspirational.  Their message is quite clear.  We need to work towards closing the loop and focus on education, diversification, exposure and participation.  These are the key ingredients for a more sustainable lifestyle in our communities – locally and globally.