Questa Farm
Questa Farm is the sustainable farm at Rancho de la Questa.
Our goal is to create a farm that you and your family/friends can enjoy. Your visit will give you the opportunity to spend time in nature and to interact with the animals on our farm. We have goats, ducks, rabbits and even a rooster who like people, particularly children. If you live in the city you may not have much opportunity to observe these wonderful creatures.
We will soon be conducting tours of the farm to explain what, how, and why, we do what we do. Our farming is done without pesticides, insecticides, and fungicides. We generate a majority of the electricity we use with solar panels on the hill behind our house and on the barn. We depend exclusively on precious well water and reduce, reuse or recycle trash and garbage as much as possible. We generate a lot of our organic fertilizers on site using stall manure and bedding, and bring in and compost cow manure from the last remaining dairy in San Diego county in San Pasqual Valley. To encourage robust growth of our vegetable, fruit and nut trees we employ hugelkultur, cover cropping, vermiculture and heavy mulch applications. Maintenance of native grasses, cover cropping and terracing are employed to minimize erosion and runoff. The old adage "waste not" "want not" is put into practice at Questa Farms.
We maintain a flock of 30-35 hens of various breeds but primarily the dual purpose Wyandotte and Spotted Sussex, and the Dominique, considered the oldest American chicken breed. In addition, we have a small flock of assorted ducks to assist with pest control and contribute to egg production. All poultry are free range with access to the outdoors and available forage. Supplemental feed is always organic.
We have over 100 fruit and nut trees, berry bushes and vines in our orchards and vineyard, including apples, pears, peaches, nectarines, plums, pomegranites, persimmons, figs, mulberries, walnuts, filberts, walnuts, blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and grapes.
Vegetables are grown seasonally in our 4,000 square foot fenced garden. Due to our excellent Zone 9a climate, we are able to grow produce most of the year, including beans, cucumbers, corn, melons, tomatoes, okra, squash, artichokes, lettuces, spinach and brassicas.
We are vendors at the Santa Ysabel Farmers Market most Saturdays from April to December selling our fresh eggs, seasonal fruits, vegetables, flowers and herbs, homemade jams and granola. Farm guests will be provided with information about eggs, fruits and vegetables available for purchase during their stay.
In our barns and pastures we raise Katahdin sheep, a hair coat breed developed in Maine in the 1950's. They are a versatile meat and milk sheep with strong mothering instincts, lamb easily and are resistant to parasites. They are tolerant of heat and, in addition to grazing, will forage which is ideal for our forage based management system.
Our goat herd is comprised of Royal Golden Guernsey goats, a rare breed of dairy goat originating on Guernsey in the Channel Islands of Great Britain. (The Royal designation came in 2024 courtesy of King Charles, III of Great Britain.) A smaller breed, they yield less milk than other dairy breeds, but their food intake is lower, and they yield larger cheese weight per volume than average. Their milk is exceptionally smooth and creamy and high in protein and butter fat, making it excellent for cheesemaking.