Discovering local treasure
Tom and Laurie Coke
By Jordan Champagne
Photography by Geneva Liimatta
The one thing that was missing in my life in Big Sur was local citrus. On the Central Coast of California, we are spoiled with what local means and the variety of ingredients we can source year-round. There is no need to eat a fruit or vegetable from afar here—the only reason not to eat locally is to satisfy some far-reaching desire. But to do so is to miss out on one of my favorite things about eating locally: getting a chance to develop a relationship with the source of my food—whether that means going to the land and harvesting the food myself or just getting to know the person who grew it. It gives us a chance to enrich our lives.
When I first started making marmalades, I was forced to search outside of my 50-mile radius for citrus. I just couldn’t find any that were closer to my home. But with time, all that changed.
I remember one winter, when I was yurt sitting on Palo Colorado Canyon Road, my family and I went on a long walk in the redwoods and ended up on Country Flat Farm, which is Peter and Janie Eichorn’s homestead. I was so excited to see the horseshoeshaped land lined with Meyer lemon trees. It was my first experience seeing that many citrus trees growing in one place. Sure, I had driven through the citrus groves of Southern California and the Central Valley. But this was different. This was here in Big Sur, on a hike from my friend’s backyard.
Later, I met Tom Coke, who also grows Meyer lemons locally, and he quickly became one of my favorite vendors at the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers’ Market at Monterey Peninsula College. Tom and his wife, Laurie, have been farming in Aromas for ages and truly are the salt of the earth. Tom always makes you feel like a friend at the stand and often says something quite memorable and funny when we meet. Once when we were picking up 400 pounds of lemons at the market, Tom said to my husband, “Man up” as he handed him another heavy crate to carry to the car. I now had as many local lemons as I wanted, but still searched for other varieties of citrus.
Then a woman approached me at our café in Pacific Grove, offering me some of her Rangpur limes. Helaine Tregenza of The Raised Bed has since become very dear to my heart because Rangpur limes are one of my favorite fruits for making salt-cured preserves and marmalade. Sometimes getting what you want takes time to let the word spread into the community.
I had heard rumors of a ranch in Big Sur that had planted a lot of different citrus trees 40 years ago. Somehow, I didn’t investigate, as I had assumed it would be more Meyer lemons. Then one day I was doing a delivery at the Big Sur Bakery and saw a friend with seven different citrus boxes in the back of her pickup truck. I got so excited because in them I saw mandarins, clementines and small oranges. We began to talk and she assured me that there was much more where those had come from.
A week later, I took the kids out of school and we drove up to Apple Pie Ranch to harvest citrus. It felt like we were miners who had just struck gold! To be able to harvest so many different varieties of citrus just a few miles from home was a dream come true and fulfilled a deep longing. On our first harvest, I even stumbled upon a rare bergamot tree that I sensed hadn’t felt appreciated in decades. We harvested as much as the car could hold and drove away, emanating pure joy.
I look forward to revisiting my citrus friends every winter and harvesting that which was missing from my life. What is missing from your local cupboard? Go on an adventure to find it. Call in sick and skip school—it just might be worth it.
Jordan Champagne is the co-owner and founder of Happy Girl Kitchen Co. She has a passion for preserving the local, organic harvest and loves sharing her secrets at the workshops she teaches across the region.
For a video about Tom and Laurie Coke produced for EMB by Tidepool Films, go to www.ediblemontereybay.com.
RECIPES
Tom and Laurie Coke
About the author
At Edible Monterey Bay, our mission is to celebrate the local food culture of Santa Cruz, San Benito and Monterey Counties, season by season. We believe in sustainability, and we believe everyone has a right to healthful, clean and affordable food. We think knowing where our food comes from is powerful, and we hope our magazine, website and newsletters inspire readers to get to know and support our local growers, fishers, chefs, vintners and food artisans.
