Bob also lives in Tonopah and has regularly visited Rob’s farm with his family several times over the years.

Over the summer of 2013 at various events and via interviews and networking, Tonopah Rob’s farm was regularly mentioned and I became curious as to how much food could be grown in the desert on a small farm.

Arizona is much more fertile than is commonly known and when water is added to the abundant sunshine you get growth… lots of it. Arizona’s State Seal depicts Mining, Farming and Ranching for good reason http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/flags/usa/azseal.jpg.  

http://cals.arizona.edu/aes/mac/ag-ventures/AZ_AG_facts.htm

What interested us about “Tonopah Rob”, Rob Lazzarotto, was that he farmed “Naturally”. We like to call it ‘Virgin Farming’ (how can you screw with food and still call it ‘Virgin’?), the term “Organic” now means whatever various levels of government says it means. The redefining of  ‘organic’ by the government and corporate food production so angered Rob that he changed all of his promotion material and made it clear that he farmed using a much higher standard. He almost doubled the size of his small farm with the investments made by his customers in future production and now he supplies food for thousands of families.

http://tonopahrob.com/about/

“Originally, the intent was to farm using purely organic methods. Unfortunately, though, as large corporations and the federal government became involved with organic certification, small farmers such as me were being priced out of getting the “certified organic” label. A small farm must now pay between $400 and $1,400 per crop for certification, annual fees, plus the cost of the inspection which includes travel expenses for the inspector.

Growing everything myself, the produce sold at my farm stand is chemical-free and better than organic. I use NO pesticides of any kind, NO insecticides, ZERO antibiotics, NO chemical fertilizers, and absolutely NO genetically modified organisms. Certain sprays and soaps are allowed in organic farming, but at Tonopah Rob’s Vegetable Farm I practice an all-natural method using beneficial bug warfare, green compost, natural fertilizers, and companion planting as my strategy and line of defense.

I employ thousands, possibly millions of beneficial insects on my farm. Over two-million lady bugs have been released here, as well as thousands of praying mantis, over twenty-thousand green lace wings, and countless wasps. Bees, spiders of all kinds, and even scorpions make up part of the troops. Other reinforcements such as lizards and whiptails, frogs, toads, snakes and iguanas patrol day and night, gobbling up bad bug intruders. Hawks and roadrunners help keep sparrows, quail and larger insects away from my lush mustard and turnip greens.”

Donna called Rob and scheduled an interview for the radio show. Bob Anderson was in studio as well and we asked if Rob would provide us a tour http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Media/142403-2013-09-26-09-27-13-pepe-escober-rob-lazzarotto-aka-tonopah-rob.htm. Rob agreed but made it clear that this was a very busy time for him so we’d need to come early and be on time (farmer’s hours).

Bob and I spent at least 3 hours with Rob, and Rob agreed that he would host a gathering of FreedomsPhoenix readers and Radio Show listeners from 10am-2pm October 26th 2013 and try to get in two tours of his entire farm. The following weekend (Saturday November 2nd) was the grand opening of his retailing from the farm for the 2013/2014 season that would go well into June (he vacations in late July… TOO HOT!)

This is a very busy time for Rob but we promised to be prompt and that the attendees would be attentive, eager and would follow his instructions.

It was a very pleasant event, and the children were very well behaved and engaged. Donna scolded me for being so serious and focused on keeping the group tight and making sure everyone could hear etc. “I thought all of this effort was about the children Ernie”… Ouch!

All of the kids were great, and their parents were very mindful of them being well behaved. But they were just having fun and enjoying a beautiful day on the farm and didn’t need any direction other than warnings to not face off with an adult male turkey, don’t anger the bees, and to hold their questions until Rob was finished talking at each of the stations. The children were very excited and that added to the fun.

Rob was obviously enjoying himself, too. But we had another group of people that desired a tour and I took a few, and when Rob finished he took another group after the first group left. My only regret was that I didn’t get to talk to any of the new faces and didn’t get to make new friends or to let them know how welcome they were and how appreciative I was that they came and brought their children. We listeners and readers traveled from as far as Las Vegas and Los Angeles to visit the farm with us.

We also printed up nice brochures from FarmMatch.com for all that attended and left a stack for Rob to distribute at his retail stand when he opens.