The Abundant Table

04/18/2023

In December of 2022, we announced the closure of The Abundant Table. We know that for many who cared deeply for The Abundant Table this was very sad news. In the announcement of our closure, we stated “what we have built together does not end, but rather will continue to be reborn in new ways.” We are happy to announce that these new ways are already beginning to show themselves. We have a couple of updates to share regarding The Abundant Table’s transition into closure.

When the current Abundant Table leadership decided on the closure of the farm, it was an opportunity for Farm Church, which birthed The Abundant Table, to take over/receive the non-profit structure. We are excited to announce that Farm Church: An Abundant Table Community took the opportunity, and will be taking over the non-profit structure of The Abundant Table. In the next couple of months, new board members from Farm Church will be elected and officially take over The Abundant Table legal structure.

Another joyous announcement is that Guadalupe Rojas, who has worked with The Abundant Table almost since its inception and been Farm Manager for many years, has started his own farm which he has named El Camino Viejo. Guadalupe will continue his relationship with King and King Ranch and will be farming the same three and a half acre plot that was being leased by The Abundant Table for the past year. If you have been supporting The Abundant Table throughout the years we encourage you to extend your support to Guadalupe in his new business venture. One quick way that you can support El Camino Viejo is by filling out the following short survey. We know many of our former CSA members are deeply missing our CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) program Guadalupe is interested in starting his own CSA program for his farm and would like to see if members of our community would be interested in being part of the CSA.

You can fill out the survey and read our final newsletter in the attached link

In December of 2022, we announced the closure of The Abundant Table. We know that for many who cared deeply for The Abundant Table this was very sad news. In the announcement of our closure, we stated “what we have built together does not end, but rather will continue to be reborn in new ways.” ...

03/16/2023

You are invited to the final Abundant Table farm celebration that is taking place on April 29th! We will be celebrating the people, land and the work that have been done over the past fourteen years. We hope to see you there!
*Please RSVP at the link below. RSVP required. More details to follow.

Join us on April 29th to celebrate The Abundant Table farm// Únase con nosotras el 29 de Abril para celebrar La Mesa Abundante

01/10/2023

Here we share a beautiful memory from October 2021, when we welcomed community members to our new farm space in Fillmore.

As The Abundant Table farm is in transition towards closure, we are reminded that our mission and work will be carried on in the hearts and minds of our community. Read some of the ways that our community has been transformed and nourished by The Abundant Table in our compilation of Love Letters here: https://theabundanttable.org/love-letters/

01/04/2023

Happy New Years! We are enjoying some much needed rain in Ventura County.

We are thrilled to announce that we reached our $10,000 goal in just 3 weeks thanks to 60 generous supporters & donors!!
💌As part of our fundraiser, we are collecting and sharing love letters to The Abundant Table from our community members. Visit theabundanttable.org/love-letters/ to read them💌

Pictured here are our Solidarity Shares boxes for farmworker families. Our last delivery will be on 1/18/2023. We started this program in September 2020 and could not have done it without our donors, including Friends of Fieldworkers, Inc. and Rebozo Festival. And most of all, thank you to all the farmworkers who feed our communities.

12/18/2022

As a way to remember, celebrate, and give thanks to the land, work, and people of The Abundant Table, each week through March beloved TAT community members near and farm will share a “love letter” with The Abundant Table. We will hear from former TAT interns, long time CSA subscribers, members of Farm Church, former TAT Executive Directors, and long time TAT community supporters near and far. If you read something in a love letter that you, too, have experienced, we hope you can share a little love and gratitude by donating to The Abundant Table one last time. If you would like to share a “love letter” please email Erynn at [email protected] All love letters will be translated into Spanish for the farm team.

Our first Love Letter is from Sarah Holst
(photo of Sarah and Reyna in 2014)

“If you want to find God, go to the garden.” -Farmer Reyna Ortega

I was an Abundant Table Intern in 2013-2014. I suppose it is not a given to find a community in your mid-twenties that pushes you in the direction of the rest of your life. But, that is precisely what my year on the farm gave me: people and place that gave me language and experience for relationship to sacred soil, to the work of accountability and justice, to a life of meaning, connection, and joy.

I was drawn to the farm by powerful, articulate, inspirational leadership and was held there in the flow between the sacred and hard work of the fields and the liturgical space that we co-created on Sundays. The Abundant Table gave me an embodied sense that I took with me to seminary and continues to inform how I weave my life.

So often I think what holds people back from doing truly visionary, risky, love-centered work in the world is that they do not believe that it is possible. Being at the Abundant Table taught me that it is. That God’s dream, that is found in the garden, is always available to us. I received the gift of sharing that dream with a community that nourished, nurtured, and challenged me.

Farmer Reyna was always so gracious to my slow, clumsy, often goofy process in the fields. A day that stands out is when my parents came to visit (on vacation!) and just happened to join us on a day that we harvested 400 lbs of carrots; one of the more grueling days I ever had on the farm. My dad and Reyna shared an easy camaraderie and kept repeating, tongue-in-cheek, “It’s wonderful!” to one another as they knelt side-by-side, pulling the carrots from the beautiful earth.

Farmers Reyna and Guadalupe generously shared their stories, expertise, patience, and power with us interns. The heart of this work has always been the farm team. As we journey alongside, or support from a distance, the next steps that these hardworking, patient, adept leaders will take, I hope you share the conviction that their work continues to be worth investing in. Offering a financial foundation for whatever comes next for them is the exact way to honor what the Abundant Table has tried to be all along.

Marigolds, carrots, toads, shining spider eyes, delight, dirt: I will love The Abundant Table forever. I am so grateful to our Abundant Table leaders, the ones that I worked closely by, and the ones that came after me, all drawn to the soil and the community by a common spirit. I know from the depths of my stardust and garden-dirt heart that this was work worth committing to, work that changed the course of lifetimes.

Thank you, Abundant Table. Thank you for feeding me, teaching me, and pushing me.

With love,
Sarah Holst

Sarah Holst is auctioning two prints of her artwork The Ventura River Watershed, inspired by her year with The Abundant Table, to raise funds for farmers Reyna, Guadalupe, Kattya, and Shanti. Find the auction on her Facebook (The Studio of Sarah Holst) or Instagram (sarahholstart). Auction ends midnight on the solstice (12-21-22)!

To date we have raised $4,580 of our $10,000 goal. You can help us meet our fundraising goal by donating today. https://theabundanttable.org/donate/

12/12/2022

Thanks for our alumni The Studio of Sarah Holst for auctioning off her art to support our farm team in our fundraising campaign!

12/10/2022

The End of an Era: The Closure of The Abundant Table Farm and Request for Donations

What an incredible fourteen years we have had together at The Abundant Table. So many seasons of life, death, and rebirth that many of you have been a part of directly or indirectly. However, after much discernment and work to find other ways of surviving, The Abundant Table as a nonprofit farm is coming to a close. The Farm Church community, which birthed The Abundant Table Farm, will continue to gather independently as it has for many years. Because we work with the land and have witnessed countless cycles of life, death, rebirth and regeneration in the soil and life we’ve tended, we know that what we have built together does not end, but rather will continue to be reborn in new ways. Our fourteen years of forging connections with each other, with land, and with food will live on; in our memories and hearts, in the land we have cared for, in the people we have nourished and in the lives we have touched. As staff members, current and past, we have all gained many skills and lessons that we will carry with us into our next steps. If you are reading this, your life was likely impacted by The Abundant Table and you’ve experienced the life of The Abundant Table that continues and regenerates through and beyond the farm.

Next Steps and How YOU Can Support

There is much to grieve, lament, and celebrate right now, but we are pouring all our organizational energy and resources into ensuring a smooth, supported transition for our farm staff members and we need the help of each and every one of you. Almost all of our current staff members have been involved with this organization for a decade. They have dedicated their lives and livelihoods to The Abundant Table. While we can never repay them for being the spirit and the labor of this organization, we want to honor them by ensuring that they are equipped with support, time and training as they move forward; and we really need your help to do this. Our goal is to raise $10,000 by January 1st, 2023.

You can make a donation online by visiting https://theabundanttable.org/donate/. Or you can make donations by check to The Abundant Table, mailed to PO Box 6295, Ventura, CA 93006.

There is much hard work ahead in this transition to closure. However, with your support we can ensure that beyond the work of ending, Reyna, Guadalupe, Kattya, and Shanti have the time and support to compost and seed the life that comes next for them.

Visit https://theabundanttable.org/announcement-of-closure/ to read our full closure letter.

In gratitude,

The Abundant Table Board and Staff

It truly takes a diverse ecosystem of support to do the work we do in the community. We rely on donations of all sizes to sustain our farm and support our farmers. Please consider supporting our work through your tax-deductible contribution today. * please note that once you click the ‘Enter Payme...

11/22/2022

We are a week away from ! This Giving Season we are raising money towards our Tip a Farmer campaign. All donations with the comment - ‘tip a farmer’ will go directly to our farmers Guadalupe and Reyna. Click the following link to hear directly from our farmers about why they work at The Abundant Table and what it means to them.
https://theabundanttable.org/meet-guadalupe-and-reyna/

11/07/2022

The first CA Department of Pesticide Regulation (DPR) workshop is happening today at 5pm in Oxnard to collect feedback and provide an update on the development of the statewide pesticide application notification system. If you cannot attend the workshop today, join on Zoom on November 10th at 5pm.
As said by Californians for Pesticide Reform "ultimately our shared goal is to eliminate the use of dangerous pesticides in agriculture, but, in the meantime, communities have the right to be notified in advance if hazardous pesticides will be applied."

DPR will hold three public workshops on November 7, 9 and 10 to collect feedback and provide an update on the development of the statewide pesticide application notification system.

More information on the workshops can be found on our website: https://www.cdpr.ca.gov/docs/pressrls/2022/100722.htm

11/04/2022

Farm Day is tomorrow! Stop on by to The Abundant Table (684 E. Guiberson Rd, Fillmore) to get a tour of the farm, learn about what we do as a non-profit farm that centers the farmer and the land, meet our farmer, and purchase some strawberries, cempasuchils and other items while you're at it! Our tours are at 10am, 12pm and 3pm. King & King Ranch our farm neighbor, will also be offering tours at 11am and 1pm. They will be sharing about how they grow avocadoes and citrus, incorporating native plants and pollinator habitat, cover crops and more.

Ventura County Farm Day is TOMORROW, Sat. Nov. 5th!⁠ Are you coming? Have you created your itinerary using our online Trail Map? Do you have any questions? Are you excited? (Can you tell we're excited? Eeek!)⁠
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👩‍🌾 WHAT: Ventura County Farm Day is a FREE, family-friendly event giving you "behind the scenes" look at farming in Ventura County. ⁠
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🍓 WHEN: Sat. Nov. 5th, 10am - 3pm⁠
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🚜 WHERE: Visit as many of the 20+ participating locations through Ventura County as you like (or have time for). Add locations to your itinerary using our online Trail Map (link in bio ⬆️⁠ ; some locations require advanced registration so sign up now)⁠
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👨‍👩‍👦‍👦 WHO: Free, community event for all!!! ⁠
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🥕 WHY: 1️⃣ Learn where your food comes from... and connect with local farmers! 2️⃣ Receive FREE produce, potting soil, and more! 3️⃣ Enjoy FREE farm tours, tractor rides, food tastings and more! 4️⃣ Have fun! ⁠
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MORE ABOUT SEEAG:⁠
Students for Eco-Education and Agriculture (aka SEEAG) is the non-profit that puts on Farm Day. It also educates kids year-round about the farm origins of their food, the importance of eating farm-fresh foods and the career opportunities in agriculture. We do so through farm field trips, class presentations and more. Follow to learn more!⁠

10/29/2022

Looking for Marigolds? Look no further, support a small and local farmer! $8/bunch, $20/3, o $50/10 //
¿Buscas Cempasuchils? ¡No busques más, apoya a un pequeño agricultor local! $8/bunch, $20/3, o $50/10

10/26/2022

LOCATION ANNOUNCEMENT: ⁠On Farm Day, take a walking tour of The Abundant Table 3.5 acre farm in Fillmore... and learn how their work is changing the way society looks at farming!⁠
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🚜 Tours will be offered at 10am, 12pm and 3pm.⁠ No advanced registration required. ⁠
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🧑‍🌾⁠ The Abundant Table is a pesticide-free, non-profit farm that seeks to transform our food system towards justice, liberation, and increased health for all people, while caring for the land and all who tend the land. They offer produce through their CSA (community-supported agriculture) program, which is an opportunity for members of the community to directly invest in their local foodshed by committing to a weekly or bi-weekly box of produce. The Abundant Table also gives FREE CSA boxes bi-weekly to 40 Indigenous, farmworker families in Ventura County through a program called Solidarity Shares. The farm is much more than a place to grow crops to sell; it is a place to learn from, connect with and be nourished by the land.⁠
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Inspired by their mission? Add The Abundant Table to your Farm Day itinerary using our online Trail Map (link in profile ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️). ⁠
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And don't forget that Farm Day is just a couple weeks away, on Saturday, November 5th!!! YEEHAW!