On July 8th, our friends Danny and Drew at Peach Jamboree Farm lost their entire homestead and all of their personal possessions to the destructive and fiery-hot Wall Fire in Oroville California. Danny and Drew were assured that the fire wouldn’t make it to their farm, when suddenly the winds shifted and they had 30 minutes to gather animals and get out of harms way. The wildfire tragically took their house and belongings, their workshop, packing shed, cooler, several other structures and most of their tools and equipment. The buildings were left as tons of rubble on their land that they now need to clean up. The fire melted irrigation lines, damaged the electrical system, destroyed the plumbing and torched the native oaks. The buildings were all treasures, built by Carl, a master craftsman and their loss is especially sad to those of us who know the farm well.
Peach Jamboree Farm was known to us previously as Woodleaf Farm, established by our good friend Carl Rosato in 1980. We know Carl as one of California’s very best organic peach growers and we are among his many students. In 2015, Carl sold Woodleaf Farm to Danny and Drew so that he could move on to new projects. Carl has continued to mentor Danny and Drew and when he heard the bad news, arrived at the farm to help locate and cap underground irrigation lines that had melted and were creating geysers in the destroyed buildings.
Every day brings new emotional and logistical challenges to the farm. They are in the middle of peach season, without any of the tools or infrastructure that is critical to success.
A fundraiser has been created to assist this precious farm in its time of need. If you are interested in helping, please visit their fundraising site. Our Hoes Down Harvest Festival Steering Committee also voted to make the Peach Jamboree our ’shout out’ organization, so that some of the funds we raise at the Festival on October 7th will be passed on to them. Drew reported that every cent of the fundraiser is going back into the farm, trying to keep it on its feet. In their July 17th Facebook note to their community they said, “We would be lost in a puddle of tears without you. I worry we may never be able to express how grateful we are for your support. But for now, know that we are giving this everything we’ve got.”
— Judith Redmond
