skip to main content

Lodi Winegrape Commission

  • Home
  • Wineries
  • About
  • Visit
    • Visitor Center
  • Club
  • Events
  • Store
    • LODI RULES Sustainable Certification
    • White Wines
    • Rosé Wines
    • Red Wines
    • Sparkling/Dessert Wines
    • Old Vine Wines
    • Merchandise
  • Blog
TOP

Letters from Lodi

An insightful and objective look at viticulture and winemaking from the Lodi
Appellation and the growers and vintners behind these crafts. Told from the
perspective of multi-award winning wine journalist, Randy Caparoso.

Randy Caparoso
 
June 3, 2011 | Randy Caparoso

Lodi’s amazing Lucero Organic Farms

IMG_4657

Lucero Organic Farms' Ben Lucero offers the real deal

Slow Food Lodi visits with Lodi’s Lucero Organic Farms

The CSA (Community Supported Agriculture Program) offered by Lodi’s own Lucero Organic Farms is now in full swing, offering you a choice of two box sizes ($19 per half share, $29 for a full) that can be picked up each Wednesday all the way through mid-December… and guaranteed:  you will enjoy a staggering variety of the most exquisite tasting vegetables and fruits imaginable, all lovingly grown 100% organically by Ben, Karen and Curtis Lucero.

IMG_4674

Karen Lucero

During a visit with the Luceros early last month, we learned that Ben Lucero, like his parents, has been farming his entire life:  first, as a $1/hour hired hand in Watsonville; and then in the sixties, developing his own organic farm in Santa Cruz, and later in San Martin, San Juan Bautista and Gilroy.

Real success, however, didn’t come until the evolution of farmers markets in the eighties – the one at San Francisco Ferry Plaza has been of particular significance for Lucero Organic Farms – and it was a search for a warmer climate to grow his Seascape strawberries, heirloom berries and vegetables that brought him to Lodi 11 years ago, where he re-established his company and home, along with his wife Karen and son Curtis, on a 6 acre parcel at 3050 E. Morse Rd., just west of Hwy. 99 between Armstrong and Eight Mile Rd..

What is the importance of certification from California Certified Organic Farmers (CCOF)?  Well, we believe we all can enjoy our strawberries more knowing that they haven’t been sprayed or fumigated as they are in conventional farming.  Plus, as Ruben Larrazolo (chef/owner of Lodi’s acclaimed Alebrijes Mexican Bistro) exclaimed when he and his two kids first tasted the Luceros’ strawberries at their Lodi farm, “now what we know what real strawberries taste like!”

IMG_4670

Ben Lucero with Alebrijes' Ruben Larrazolo

Not only is Lucero Organic Farms the real deal, it is the only CSA in Lodi.  If eating well is important to you and your family, consider these offerings from the Luceros:

  • IMG_4691

    Victoria Larrazolo

    No less than 60 varieties of heirloom tomatoes

  • A dozen varieties of eggplant
  • 11 varieties of cucumbers
  • A half-dozen varieties each of squash, carrots, and beets
  • Artichokes, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, sweet corn, onions, sweet and hot peppers, green and sweet onions, daikon, okra, garlic, green beans, onions, kale, kohlrabi, peas, radishes, salad greens, spinach, turnips, zucchini…
  • Figs, apples, apricots, cantaloupes, grapes, lemons, nectarines, peaches, pears, persimmons, plums, prunes raspberries, strawberries, melons, watermelons…

No, it’s not a miracle, although it may as well be for those of us fortunate to live in the neighborhood.  The Luceros also meticulously farm 2 acres off Lodi’s Ham Ln., 6 acres in Clements, and a 40 acre farm they are developing in Clarksburg (the latter, primarily in orchards).

IMG_4459

Iron shopper in Downtown Lodi

For more information on signing up for the Lucero Organic Farms CSA, please visit their page on the Local Harvest Web site, or go directly to the Luceros’ CSA Order Form.  Shares may be ordered in 16, 20, and 24 week packages; and any shares that are not picked up are always donated to either the Stockton Food Bank or another local charity.

IMG_4665

San Joaquin County residents may pick up their orders each Wednesday from 3 to 6 PM  at 3050 E. Morse Rd. in Lodi.  For Bay Area consumers, Lucero CSA orders may also be picked up at the farmers markets at Ferry Plaza (Thursdays and Saturdays), Berkeley (Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays) and at Menlo Park/Oakland (Sundays).

Finally, if you are a consumer who strongly believes that the efforts of the Lucero family need to be more vigorously supported in order to make sure that this service to the community is continued, please contact Slow Food Lodi’s Volunteer Coordinator, Mardie Driftmier, at mdriftmier@msn.com to find out how you can volunteer to assist the Luceros in their efforts.

For more information on Slow Food Lodi, please visit the Slow Food Lodi’s Facebook page and join their growing community of like minded lovers of good and healthy foods.

IMG_4695

Picking Lucero's organic strawberries

Tweet
Pin It

Comments

Commenting has been turned off.
Blog Search
Recent Posts
  • January 19, 2021
    French students break down Lodi winegrowing, marketing, and its Alta Mesa appellation
  • January 13, 2021
    Alternative style Lodi wines reflecting the wave of the future — part 2, new interpretations of heritage grapes
  • January 11, 2021
    Alternative style Lodi wines reflecting the wave of the future — part 1, an unfamiliar white and red
  • January 5, 2021
    Discerning wines of the immediate future through what we know about the past and what's going in Lodi
  • December 29, 2020
    Lodi 2020: The year in pictures
  • December 27, 2020
    The small steps of Lodi growers led to giant leaps for Lodi wine country
  • December 22, 2020
    Looking on the bright side of fading old vine plantings in Lodi
  • December 17, 2020
    Our list of nice Lodi reds, rosés and fortified dessert wines for Christmas gifting and sipping
  • December 15, 2020
    A Lodi white makes the world's Top 100 list, and other Lodi whites for Christmas shopping and sipping
  • December 9, 2020
    The 1980s and 1990s — start of Lodi wine country's modern era
Our Writers
  • Randy Caparoso (804)
Blog Archives
2021
  • January 2021 (4)
2020
  • December 2020 (7)
  • November 2020 (7)
  • October 2020 (6)
  • September 2020 (7)
  • August 2020 (7)
  • July 2020 (7)
  • June 2020 (8)
  • May 2020 (8)
  • April 2020 (8)
  • March 2020 (8)
  • February 2020 (6)
  • January 2020 (6)
2019
  • December 2019 (7)
  • November 2019 (6)
  • October 2019 (6)
  • September 2019 (5)
  • August 2019 (5)
  • July 2019 (7)
  • June 2019 (6)
  • May 2019 (6)
  • April 2019 (6)
  • March 2019 (6)
  • February 2019 (5)
  • January 2019 (7)
2018
  • December 2018 (7)
  • November 2018 (7)
  • October 2018 (9)
  • September 2018 (6)
  • August 2018 (7)
  • July 2018 (8)
  • June 2018 (7)
  • May 2018 (9)
  • April 2018 (8)
  • March 2018 (9)
  • February 2018 (8)
  • January 2018 (8)
2017
  • December 2017 (6)
  • November 2017 (8)
  • October 2017 (10)
  • September 2017 (5)
  • August 2017 (6)
  • July 2017 (7)
  • June 2017 (6)
  • May 2017 (5)
  • April 2017 (7)
  • March 2017 (6)
  • February 2017 (5)
  • January 2017 (7)
2016
  • December 2016 (7)
  • November 2016 (8)
  • October 2016 (7)
  • September 2016 (7)
  • August 2016 (5)
  • July 2016 (7)
  • June 2016 (7)
  • May 2016 (6)
  • April 2016 (6)
  • March 2016 (7)
  • February 2016 (6)
  • January 2016 (5)
2015
  • December 2015 (8)
  • November 2015 (6)
  • October 2015 (7)
  • September 2015 (5)
  • August 2015 (6)
  • July 2015 (7)
  • June 2015 (6)
  • May 2015 (5)
  • April 2015 (6)
  • March 2015 (6)
  • February 2015 (7)
  • January 2015 (5)
2014
  • December 2014 (8)
  • November 2014 (5)
  • October 2014 (7)
  • September 2014 (5)
  • August 2014 (3)
  • July 2014 (5)
  • June 2014 (6)
  • May 2014 (7)
  • April 2014 (7)
  • March 2014 (5)
  • February 2014 (4)
  • January 2014 (7)
2013
  • December 2013 (8)
  • November 2013 (6)
  • October 2013 (7)
  • September 2013 (5)
  • August 2013 (6)
  • July 2013 (4)
  • June 2013 (4)
  • May 2013 (4)
  • April 2013 (5)
  • March 2013 (2)
  • February 2013 (2)
  • January 2013 (4)
2012
  • December 2012 (7)
  • November 2012 (9)
  • October 2012 (9)
  • September 2012 (7)
  • August 2012 (9)
  • July 2012 (8)
  • June 2012 (8)
  • May 2012 (9)
  • April 2012 (8)
  • March 2012 (9)
  • February 2012 (7)
  • January 2012 (9)
2011
  • December 2011 (7)
  • November 2011 (8)
  • October 2011 (7)
  • September 2011 (7)
  • August 2011 (8)
  • July 2011 (8)
  • June 2011 (9)
  • May 2011 (7)
  • April 2011 (9)
  • March 2011 (8)
  • February 2011 (8)
  • January 2011 (7)
2010
  • December 2010 (8)
  • November 2010 (6)
  • October 2010 (2)
  • September 2010 (6)
  • August 2010 (5)
Additional Resources
  • Media & Trade
  • Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Donation Requests
  • Returns & Cancellations
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
Contact

Lodi Wine Visitor Center
2545 West Turner Road Lodi, CA 95242
209.365.0621
Open: Thursday - Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm

Lodi Winegrape Commission
2545 West Turner Road, Lodi, CA 95242
209.367.4727
Open: Monday-Friday 8:00am-5:00pm

Have a question? Complete our contact form.

  • © Copyright 2021 Lodi Winegrape Commission
  • Winery Ecommerce by WineDirect