Planting starts at $1.4 million Great Park farm

By SEAN EMERY | THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

IRVINE – Great Park farmers have begun “re-awakening” more than 100 acres of agricultural land, kicking off a wave of park development that will eventually bring sports fields, improved roadways and community gardens.

Park workers over the last month have quite literally planted the seeds for a Great Park agricultural district that will grow to encompass community gardens, a farmers market and rows of fresh-grown produce.

The creation of the agricultural fields will ultimately cost up to $1.4 million, part of a larger $65 million construction plan approved by Irvine leaders several months ago.

Almost two-thirds of those agricultural costs are tied to demolition and earthwork, as well as the installation of storm drain systems. Plans to relocate trees and plant a citrus orchard nearby are expected to cost another $1.1 million.

Promises of performance spaces, sports fields and cultural gathering places may get much of the attention, but no less ambitious efforts to return the now-shuttered El Toro airbase to its former natural splendor through farm, garden and wildlife space are just as key to the proposed park plan.

“There is nothing really natural out there, it’s all been manicured,” said Tom Larson, a principal at Dudek, the consulting firm hired to oversee agricultural efforts at the Great Park. “We are bringing back and restoring and rejuvenating the land to have it become something that is really beneficial to the community.”

Rather than waiting for the infrastructure work, Great Park agricultural consultants have decided to immediately begin dry farming, planting barley seeds that they say will strengthen the soil and help determine what crops can ultimately be planted at the park.

The dry farming methods echoes those used prior to the arrival of the El Toro base, when farmers grew lima beans and grain crops on the fertile land.

“They looked at the soil, looked at the precipitation, and decided what crops could be sustained with that annual rainfall,” Larson said. “The process is to cultivate the soil and prepare it prior to rainfall, then seed it and allow the winter rains to bring up the crops.”

Workers planted the seeds just before the recent rains, which helped speed the growth of fields of barley that have already begun to sprout at the base.

The agricultural consultants coordinated closely with other Great Park officials leading up to the plantings, making sure they didn’t interfere with El Toro infrastructure such as underground storm drains, electric utilities or other abandoned equipment.

“We worked around a lot of the concrete and asphalt out there,” Deputy Great Park CEO Cliff Wallace said. “In an ideal world, we would have gone out there and demolished all that, but we don’t have the time and it is pretty expensive, so the farmer is going to have to work around those constraints.”

The agricultural district isn’t the Great Park’s first foray into farming.

Park officials last year unveiled a 2-acre farm and food lab, inviting master farmers from the University of California cooperative extension program to create a dozen themed gardens and host a series of well-attended gardening classes.

The Great Park has also teamed up with other local farmers to donate more than 100 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to the Orange County Food Bank, an effort they plan to expand.

Great Park leaders envision a mix of crops once the installation of irrigation and drainage systems allows for row crop farming. They also hope to rent out plots in a community farm area planned near the Farm and Food lab, allowing locals the chance to develop their own green thumbs.

A farmers market could be established within the next year, Larson said. Park leaders are also exploring the possibility of a pavilion to educate visitors about farming and agriculture.

“We are going to see a real operating farm out there,” Irvine Councilman and Great Park Chairman Larry Agran said. “…This will be a chance for a new generation of young people to understand that agriculture was and continues to be an important part of our local geography and land use.”

Next up on the Great Park’s construction schedule is work in picnic areas and a planned palm court adjacent to the preview park and balloon ride. Workers have already demolished most of the old El Toro buildings in the area, leaving only their foundations to remove.

“We’re finalizing all the construction plans so that we can start turning dirt on these other projects,” Deputy CEO Wallace said.

https://www.ocregister.com/news/park-233351-great-agricultural.html