Planting the seed for a mountain co-op

By Mary-Justine Lanyon

The “seed” for the Mountain Provisions Cooperative was planted when Alexander Vallejos and Holly Walker were distributing farm-fresh produce to local residents.

When they pondered bringing Arrowhead Farms Direct to an end, the idea of a cooperative was suggested to them by Bev Eskew, owner of Spade & Spatula in Blue Jay.

The co-op was formed, a board was put in place and plans were formulated.

What has become known as Snowmageddon forced the Mountain Provisions Co-op to spring into action sooner than anticipated. Lauri and Bort Carleton, founding members of the co-op, secured the former gas station next to their shop, Mag-Pi, in Cedar Glen. It was there the co-op opened what they called the Free Store, offering fresh produce, nonperishable items and even books and clothing to the community. From March until July 2023, co-op volunteers helped keep the community fed and clothed.

They also set up a GoFundMe account, which raised $60,000 for disaster relief in the community. The co-op distributed those funds to nonprofits including Operation Provider, Hearts & Lives, the Mountain Homeless Coalition, Rebuilding Together and the Mountain Communities Boys & Girls Club.

The co-op’s vision is to open a member-owned market, offering not only opportunity for economic development by providing local employment but also fresh, fair-traded, locally raised food and goods. They have a goal of reaching 300 members in 2024. Members receive discounts on monthly boxes of farm-fresh produce and also have access to monthly educational workshops. Some topics already covered include Meditation for Mind, Body and Spirit and Canning Basics.

But that’s not all. The co-op has plans in the works for two community gardens. One is on the site of a garden in Twin Peaks that was overseen by Rim of the World Recreation and Park District. The other is in an empty lot owned by co-op members, who are leasing the land to the co-op.

The Twin Peaks property, Gavin Bialecki, co-chair of the co-op’s board, said, will be used as an educational site. “We will teach people how to grow, harvest, can and jar produce,” he said. “And we’ll be able to have community dinners there.”

The co-op is working with members of the Rim High Interact club, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Lake Arrowhead. “They are interested in learning and growing with us,” Bialecki said.

The garden in Twin Peaks had been neglected so the co-op approached Rec and Park with their idea, asking if they could get the community more involved.

The owners of the other plot of land, located in the Grass Valley area of Lake Arrowhead, approached the co-op’s board. “We were looking for a place to have a memorial garden for Lauri,” Bialecki said.

After Lauri Carleton was murdered at Mag-Pi in August, the co-op felt the best way to honor her “was to continue giving back to the community through the Free Store and a garden so people can access produce,” Bialecki said.

The homeowners told the co-op they would love to turn the vacant land into such a garden. That garden would be strictly for co-op members.

Bialecki noted the homeowners have already extended their irrigation from their backyard into the proposed garden area. The co-op will set up drip irrigation for the raised beds they intend to install. They plan to bring up 20 to 40 yards of good soil to add to the top of the lot.

“After each planting season,” Bialecki said, “we will add more soil to keep it as nutrient rich as possible.”

They also have some composting ideas and have talked with Vallejos, who runs the Twin Peaks farmers market, about composting the unsold vegetables.

“Cultivating healthy soil where we’re growing is important to us,” added Lauren Kruz, the co-op’s marketing chair. The idea, she said, is to create a healthy ecosystem and help people understand the educational loop. Instead of getting something from a store and not knowing where it comes from, they will be able to plant a seed, watch it grow and perhaps even help harvest it.

Co-op volunteers have already scraped the Grass Valley lot and removed any rocks. They also built a water diversion channel. After the soil is delivered, they will cover it with a tarp to keep the heat in, allowing it to mix in over the winter and be ready for planting in the spring.

There is room, Kruz noted, for native plants throughout the Twin Peaks park. She is excited about the proposed monthly workshops on composting and canning. “Some of our members already do that,” she said, “so they are the perfect people to teach classes. It’s a public location with lots of parking so it makes sense to have bigger gatherings there.”

The hope is to take produce grown in the gardens and put it in the monthly boxes the co-op sells – to replace some of the produce they now purchase from farms down the hill. Adding the locally grown produce – “produce grown in our own soil,” Bialecki said – should make the cost of the boxes go down.

He added that the Carleton family would like any food that is left over to be offered to the community at the Free Store in Cedar Glen.

“Lauri was all about giving back,” Kruz said. “This is our way of continuing her legacy.” She and Bialecki added they identified families in need from those who came to the Free Store following last winter’s storms.

“We are beyond excited about this,” Bialecki said. “It came out of horrible circumstances.”

All the co-op members, he added, “are on the same wavelength. They are looking forward to having something community driven up here they can be part of.” And, he said, they are excited about learning about the interaction of the earth and the plants and then eating the food that is grown locally. 

Meanwhile, memberships are available and monthly boxes of farm-fresh produce can be ordered. For more information, visit mountainprovisions.coop.