Farm Tour Gold at Wanderment Farms

Farm Tour Gold at
Wanderment Farms

The Redfern’s Organic,
Regenerative Showcase Sits in
the Cliffs Above Carpinteria

By Matt Kettmann | May 16, 2024

Perched on the cliffs above Carpinteria, Wanderment Farms is a showcase for organic and regenerative farming, pairing stunning views of the Santa Barbara Channel with crops, livestock, and native plants being integrated into a harmonious whole. At the helm is Margo Redfern, who purchased the property — which was home to half of the Paredon Vineyard — with her husband, Jeff, in October 2020, and has spent the ensuing years building their home and plotting their dream to have an impact on both climate and food crises.

“I have a fair amount of climate anxiety and I am pretty concerned about the fact that a lot of the nutrition in our food has really gone down over the last couple of generations,” she explained. “It’s easy in today’s world to get really distressed about a lot of things, but I try to focus on things that I can have an impact on.”

Because 70 percent of the property is set aside for carbon capture and water sequestration, for instance, Wanderment is already preserving four million gallons of water per year. They’ve replanted four acres of the syrah and grenache vines, two acres of coffee, and 1,000 agaves for firebreak and, much later, spirits. There are four acres of olive trees (they’re acquiring their own oil press soon) and two acres of native plants that serve as a pollinator garden. “All of it just works into a larger picture of stronger, healthier plants and a more nutritious product and hopefully things that taste good,” said Redfern.

But the highlight, especially for tours, are the animals. “We breed a rare sheep, the Valais Blacknose,” she said. “There are only about 12,000 in the world. Their whole pitch is that they’re the cutest sheep in the world. They also have great personalities.” Toss in llamas as livestock “dogs” — including a baby llama right now — mobile chicken coops (they sell eggs around town), homegrown lavender lemonade, and breads from Dinkelbrot Delight, and you’ve got farm tour gold.

“It’s easy to go down the rabbit hole of being scared where we are headed,” said Redfern. “But I want my grandkids to have a world that’s beautiful and wonderful.”

See wandermentfarms.com.