While social distancing may be difficult to maintain inside grocery stores, open air farms and markets have been providing families in Malibu with fresh produce with little to no interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic.
One farm stand taking health and safety precautions is Malibu Fig Ranch at Sterling Farms, located at 29127 Pacific Coast Highway. According to the farm’s Instagram, it has followed safe disinfectant practices with all the products it handles.
Curated by Kerry Clasby, also known as the Intuitive Forager, Malibu Fig Ranch is providing farm boxes—complete boxes for $80 and singles for $50, which consist of asparagus, potatoes, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli crowns, spinach and more.
“Our small but mighty little farm and market has been and will continue to be open during these difficult times,” Malibu Fig Ranch posted on social media. “We had minimally handled, organic, nutrient dense fruits and vegetables straight from the farm. We look at our market as an essential service to help feed people for optimum health.”
Malibu Fig Ranch is open daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Customers can place their orders by emailing LAorders@intutiveforager.com. Purchases and transactions are encouraged through Venmo with credit cards.
Since the Malibu Pier closure in March, One Gun Ranch on Rambla Pacifico Road in Malibu has had to adjust the products going out to most of the restaurants it had been selling to, not to mention adjusting to temporarily losing its retail location on the pier.
“We feel very lucky to be surrounded by nature and continuing the rhythm and routine,” farm owner Alice Bamford said. “What we’ve seen since the start of this pandemic—a lot of people are really wanting to grow for themselves, so we’ve been advising a lot of people on how to start their vegetable gardens.”
Bamford said her customers have shared photos using their produce and recipes from their farm and said cooking has really brought families together.
“Amongst all the sadness, there’s a lot of lovely stories some people have shared,” Bamford said.
“It [product] only gets touched by two hands and those hands are wearing gloves. We’re taking all the right protocols. Everything we’ve harvested is done the right way, but this is a new normal,” Bamford said. “This pandemic [spares] no business; it’s affecting everyone.”
Anyone interested can email farm@1gunranch.com. Preferred pick-up time is Monday through Saturday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Thorne Family Farm on Bonsall Drive is providing fresh produce, jam jars, meals, baked goods (provided by Varsity Bakers) and a “five-day quarantine survival box,” provided through a partnership with Malibu Farm. The box is available with meat or vegetarian recipes and feeds two or four people.
Meals such as their Swedish mini pancakes, spaghetti squash lasagna and cauliflower crust pizza can be ready for pick up as well as vegan options are available. Take-out and to-go orders can also be made on the Malibu Farm website.
Thorne Family Farm is providing a free pick-up or delivery fee of $25. Custom-made box orders can be placed on Wednesdays and Saturdays.
The Malibu Farmers Market remains open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sundays in the Malibu Library parking lot and continues to offer delivery for those within Malibu city limits. More information can be found at mfmtogo.square.site/s/shop or on Instagram at @malibufarmersmarket.
