Old Farming is New at Volcan View Farm
By Bobbi Zane

Volcan View Farm owner Chuck El-Ghoroury is shown with a bountiful harvest of garlic, one of several crops he grows without pesticides or chemicals. Photo by Bobbi Zane

Old farming practices never die. They just fade into new, scientific practices.

That's the theory behind biodynamic farming, an up-and-coming way of growing fruits and vegetables that produces clean, pesticide-free products.

Volcan View Farm, operated by Chuck El-Ghoroury on an oak-studded hillside at the base of the mountain on Wynola Road, uses the methods and each summer turns out pesticide/chemical-free tomatoes, lettuce, zucchini, garlic and herbs.

El-Ghoroury offers his vegetables for sale throughout the summer on Saturdays and Wednesday afternoons.

Curious about biodynamic farming, I attended a presentation El-Ghoroury made at the library early in May. He only touched on the old ideas that afternoon, just enough for me to head out to the farm recently to learn more.

Easy to see from the road, the farm can be identified by a large white yurt, which served as a home for El-Ghoroury and his family from 2002 until they moved into a new house recently.

Biodynamics, according to El-Ghoroury, combines ancient practices and new ideas gleaned from science. He credits Austrian Rudolf Steiner, a philosopher and scientist, with spearheading the movement.

He began studying organic farming some years ago in Julian when he worked for Camp Stevens as a cook. Later, deciding to push it up a notch, El-Ghoroury traveled to Germany, where he worked on a biodynamic farm and learned the principles of planting using celestial clues to determine when to plant crops.

"The moon makes a big difference," he explained. "Seeds sown in the full moon will grow bigger and healthier. I think the moon affects ground water and that the pull of tidal action will pull the seeds and sprouts."

Likewise, the ancients calculated planting schedules by the locations of celestial constellations and planets. Most likely this was a reliable method of determining seasons in the absence of calendars and clocks.

Placement of plants is critical to making this program work. "Plants affect each other. Some flowers attract beneficial insects that help neighboring plants. For example, it's well known that tomatoes and basil grow well together."

El-Ghoroury avoids chemicals and pesticides for his plants like the plague. Instead, he brews up a selection of herbal teas called "preparations" in the biodynamic literature to spray the plants. These eradicate aphids and other pests, leaving the fruits and vegetables clean. Other "preparations" stimulate and enrich the soil.

You can check all this out at Volcan View Farm this summer, when El-Ghoroury has his vegetable stand open. Located on Wynola Road between Farmer Road and Highway 78, it's open from 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays and from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. Saturdays. For information, El-Ghoroury can be reached at 760-765-1452.