OKO JOURNAL
NOTES FROM THE FIELD 007
10.16.2024
NOTES FROM THE FIELD: ISAAC GARCIA, FARM CREW
Last week, Jess interviewed Isaac, Oko Farms’ second-longest standing staff member. Having started his time as a volunteer in July 2016, Isaac is now an integral part of the Farm Crew team having earned the title ‘Compost King’ for his tireless work maintaining our compost system. Check out Jess and Isaac’s conversation below
JESS: Hi Isaac, thanks so much for sitting down with me. Can you tell me a little about when you started working at Oko Farms? What brought you here?
ISAAC: I originally worked as a volunteer at the [Oko Farms] Moore St location. I found this place out of interest of - well, originally I wanted to expand more on farming because I originally worked with hydroponics. When I saw aquaponics I thought maybe I want to give this a try.
JESS: How did you find Oko Farms?
ISAAC: Online - instead of going to Summer School I wanted to work a volunteer job, so I searched for whatever farm was interesting and close and I saw Oko Farms was one of them.
JESS: Why do you like farming?
ISAAC: This type particularly taught me that there were other ways to grow your crops otherthan your typical soil growing.
JESS: What is your favorite farm task?
ISAAC: *smiles* Oh man, there’s a lot
JESS: You can name your top three
ISAAC: I like to harvest, compost, and sometimes work with the dehydrator, I’m over there all the time -it’s nice.
JESS: I agree, working with the dehydrator is nice - sorting all the herbs and flowers and putting them in to dry can be very meditative. What’s your favorite thing that we grow?
ISAAC: I like the mint, ground cherries, strawberries, the basils
JESS: All of the basils?
ISAAC: *smiles and nods*
JESS: Out of all of the staff, you have been working at Oko Farms for the second-longest amount of time, after Lexi - so many years! What has kept you around for so long?
ISAAC: I like it here because I get to learn more and expand on farming as a whole and different techniques of growing
JESS: Do you like to use the produce that you grow when you’re cooking at home? If so, what’s your favorite way to use our produce?
ISAAC: I like taking basil and using it on pizza most of the time
JESS: Ooh, do you make your own pizza or do you just put it on pizza that you’ve ordered from elsewhere?
ISAAC: I make my own pizza - I bake it, every other week my mom and I make bread and pizza dough
JESS: What! You never told us you have pizza night every other week with Oko produce! That’s so fun! What kinds of pizzas do you make?
ISAAC: The one with our basil on it, we either make cheese or margarita
JESS: Yum, can you make some for us sometime?
ISAAC: *smiles and nods*
JESS: Yum! Can’t wait! Ok, Final Questions - you’re our compost king.
ISAAC: *smiles and nods*
JESS: Can you describe your compost process? And how you hope that the compost you work so hard to maintain is used on our farm?
ISAAC: So far my compost has helped grow all our crops in our soil beds. In the summer, I had to screen out our compost for Yemi to use for all the soil produce. And I usually turn all 4 compost boxes and then after turning all four I cover them with wood shavings - we actually need to get some more wood shavings, I need to tell Yemi - and then I cover the turned compost with the wood shavings and then sometimes I add water, but I don’t add water to the piles if it rains.
JESS: And we’ve been getting some good rain lately haven’t we? Well, thanks so much for your time, Isaac, I really
ISAAC: I make my own pizza - I bake it, every other week my mom and I make bread and pizza dough
JESS: What! You never told us you have pizza night every other week with Oko produce! That’s so fun! What kinds of pizzas do you make?
ISAAC: The one with our basil on it, we either make cheese or margarita
JESS: Yum, can you make some for us sometime?
ISAAC: *smiles and nods*
JESS: Yum! Can’t wait! Ok, Final Questions - you’re our compost king.
ISAAC: *smiles and nods*
JESS: Can you describe your compost process? And how you hope that the compost you work so hard to maintain is used on our farm?
ISAAC: So far my compost has helped grow all our crops in our soil beds. In the summer, I had to screen out our compost for Yemi to use for all the soil produce. And I usually turn all 4 compost boxes and then after turning all four I cover them with wood shavings - we actually need to get some more wood shavings, I need to tell Yemi - and then I cover the turned compost with the wood shavings and then sometimes I add water, but I don’t add water to the piles if it rains.
JESS: And we’ve been getting some good rain lately haven’t we? Well, thanks so much for your time, Isaac, I really appreciate it!
ISAAC: No problem :)