twodogfarm.biz

We are a family operation. Mark and Nibby Bartle own, manage and work on the farm. Our children, Miles and Lily,also help out in the summer.

Mark and Nibby farmed with Molino Creek Farming Collective for 15 years before starting our own farm in 2001. We chose the name Two Dog for our dogs and from a line in a children's picture book ("one cake, two dogs...").

Mark does the tractor work and the Heart of the City farmers market which is twice a week throughout our growing season. He is very knowledgeable about many things and has an excellent memory (History MA,UC Berkeley '80). He has worked part time at New Leaf in the produce department since Lily was born.

Nibby does all the greenhouse work, the plantings and all the lettuce harvest. She does Alemany farmers market and some early morning deliveries during the tomato season. She plays mandolin and violin and plays twice a month with informal Celtic music sessions. She takes the photographs. She is vegan and is excited about cooking.

Miles is 17 and will be a senior at Santa Cruz High. He is an important full time member of the work crew this summer. He has been doing a lot of weeding! He also helps with the greens harvest and irrigation pipe moves. He does the heavy lifting for his mom at the Alemany market. He plays violin with his mom and likes to play Celtic music too . He reads fantasy books and likes video games.

Lily is 12 and will be in 7th grade next fall in Santa Cruz and will take the metro bus in to town with her brother and her friends. During the summer she helps with the beets and edible flowers. She says she wants to be a farmer when she grows up and grow flowers . She has her yellow belt in the martial art Aikido.

We hire a few people to help us. Sawato is back this year and we are so glad to have him. He's been working very hard this spring with the extra load of weeds. On his own time, he is very involved with Jiu-Jitsu. Maroka is his sister and is the produce manager at the Westside New Leaf and is back again to help on the farm part time. It's great to have her on both sides of our vegetables. We are happy to have Chris back again this season one day a week. He's a fast greens planter! He's another big wheel in produce and grew up in Hawaii. Thea is also at New Leaf and has been asking for years to work part time and is so very cheerful! We're happy to have such a good crew.

Our farm is certified organic through California Certified Organic Farmers and we believe strongly in ecological sustainability and crop diversity.
We grow a winter cover crop and rotate summer crops to improve soil fertility.
We adhere to CCOF's guidelines and only use natural fertilizers and tractor- and hand-weed. We use no GMO seeds and use as many organic seeds as possible.