June 2009 Marin Agricultural Land Trust Newsletter

Swirl, Sip, Salud!

Pinot Noir Wine Tasting
Benefit for MALT
Saturday, June 13
The 5th annual Marin County Pinot Noir tasting at the historic Escalle Winery in Larkspur is an inspired effort to preserve
agricultural land in Marin County. Proceeds will benefit MALT. The limited production Marin County pinot noirs include some
marquee names and some of California's most promising new faces. Corda Winery; Dutton-Goldfield Winery; Kendric Vineyards;
Orogeny Winery; Pey-Marin Vineyards; Point Reyes Vineyards; Precedent Wines; Sean Thackrey; Stubbs Vineyard; Thomas
Fogarty Winery; Vergari Wines; Vision Cellars; and Willowbrook CellarsA tasting of locally-produced foods will be offered, too.
Don't delay, this event sells out quickly Read more and buy tickets >

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Photo: Paige Green

MALT on the MOOve

Find us at these summer events:
Bookstock in San Francisco, Saturday June 6
Fairfax Ecofest, Saturday & Sunday, June 13 & 14
Marin County Fair, July 1-5
Drop by and say "hi" to MALT staff and volunteers at the booths we'll have at these two fun family events:

Bookstock attendees will enjoy a night of live music, food, children's activities, a live art show, and an
advanced screening of Logan and Noah Miller's film "Touching Home," starring 4-time Academy Award
nominee Ed Harris; all on the field of AT&T park! "Touching Home" was filmed extensively in West Marin
and on farms and ranches protected by MALT conservation easements.
Read more>

Who says "being green" isn't fun? The Fairfax Ecofest 2009, a festival within the Fairfax Festival, is an
ecological celebration! Come share your ideas with local environmental groups, shop for organic goods
and services, enjoy organic food, wine and beer, hear locally grown music, view art and have fun with the
kids. Read more >

And, of course, we'll be exhibiting at the Marin County Fair. Snap a photo or two with our "Hole-y Cow"
at our big red barn at the Fair. The display also showcases photographs of Marin's farmers and ranchers.
Read more>

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Vote!
For America's Favorite Farmer's Market
This summer, the American Farmland Trust invites eaters across the United States to cast their
vote for America's Favorite Farmers Market! With over 100 markets in the Bay area, it's tough for
us at MALT to choose just one, but we're rooting for our home town favorite, the all-organic Point
Reyes Farmer's Market, opening for the season Saturday, June 27.

Visit www.farmland.org/vote to cast your vote. The polls will close at the end of July, and the
nation's choice will be announced during National Farmers Market Week in early August.

Looking for farmer's markets near you? Use the search feature on www.malt.org to find local
food sources in your neighborhood.

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Photo: Jesse Kuhn of Marin Roots Farm by Paige Green
Read more about Jesse in MALT's Summer Newsletter

A Father's Day Farm Tale

The Family Story Behind Point Reyes Original Blue
Bob Giacomini had a plan...and a vision. For over 30 years, being a dairy farmer was his life's work. In the late 1990's he decided
that he wanted to diversify and make a plan toward his and his wife Dean's eventual retirement. At the same time, the Tomales
Bay Watershed Council was created and environmental issues came to the forefront of ranching and farming in West Marin. Bob
decided that one way to lower his dairy's environmental impact was to reduce the size of his Holstein dairy herd and also tried to
purchase a cheesemaking plant. When that didn't pan out, he decided that there was no reason why he couldn't try his hand at
making cheese from scratch on site.

Although Bob and Dean Giacomini's four daughters grew up on the farm, none of them ever had any interest in continuing in the
family business. They never milked the cows or raised animals to show. Their interests lay in cooking and sewing and keeping
just a few pet chickens and sheep. They all moved off the family farm, pursued college degrees, had various careers in marketing,
sales and other non-agricultural pursuits, and began familes of their own.

Bob believed that when it came time to retire he and his wife Dean would take a break. They would sell the farm, travel, and do the
things that they put off while running a dairy. Bob said "If the girls weren't going to come back, I wasn't going to do it alone. But
they showed an interest in cheesemaking, and that's when we jumped into it." Around the family's kitchen table, the vision to
sustain the family farm was born, fulfilling a father's dream. In 2000, the Giacominis produced their first wheel of Original Blue, and
in 2005 they sold a conservation easement to MALT, protecting the dairy as farmland forever.
Read more>

Photos by Hope Ratner

Top: Bob Giacomini with daughters Lynn and Karen
Bottom: Contented cows on the Giacomini Dairy