Lou Family Farm and Nursery

04/04/2021

Wishing everyone a hoppy spring, from our garden to yours! We hope y'all are making the most of this warm, beautiful weather. These cascade hops are starting to jump! Hope we can harvest enough buds this year to make a small batch of beer. Cheers! 🍻🌱🎉

03/26/2021

Happy spring! Love seeing these stone fruit blooms on our young trees. This is a dual grafted tree that I put together a couple years ago. It has red baron peach and sauzee king nectarine! So amazing what can happen in nature with a little human ingenuity.

02/28/2021

I've been loving my new-to-me old farm truck. This workhorse had already paid for itself in all the soil, mulch, trees, tools, and irrigation that it has moved. A farmer and their truck is a force to be reckoned with 🧑🏽‍🌾🛻💪🏾🌳🌱

09/16/2020

It's that time of year again, when watermelons weigh as much as children. Growing beneath the orchard, this is our first of the season. Love these stars and moon melons. This one tipped the scales at 35 lbs! Always consistent and delicious 🍉🧑🏽‍🌾💪🏾

07/06/2020

Backyard chickens are amazing and serve many essential roles in the regenerative system 🐔🌳🧑🏽‍🌾 These spring hens are settling into their rhythm and should begin laying near the end of the month! 💪🏽🐔🥚

06/26/2020

Reposted from MEET THE FARMER l NATHAN LOU

What does it mean to be a farmer?

Here’s Nathan’s definition: A farmer is a human that engages in the cultivation of food and/or medicine for themselves and other beings. Farming is one of the most humbling, challenging, and enriching experiences that someone can engage in.

We couldn’t agree more. Much of Nathan’s philosophy on farming involves the art of coming back. Coming back to the skills of his ancestors. Coming back to the understanding that nature knows what to do if we let it. Regenerative practices are Nathan's pathway back to the way of farming that enriches our bodies and the environment simultaneously, and inturn, our future.

Read the full feature on Nathan and at the link in our bio . . . . .

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06/24/2020

Reposted from MEET THE FARMER l NATHAN LOU “I see huge opportunities for cities to implement urban food forests.” If you take a stroll down an urban neighborhood with Nathan Lou, you’ll probably learn about all the ways and places a food forest could live and grow.

A single fruit tree goes well beyond being a food source for the community. It can serve schools, food banks and provide habitat for bees, birds, and other wildlife while also being a living, breathing and fruiting textbook to educate and enrich a community.

Nathan’s work is focused on creating these environments within urban habitats so that it becomes a long term plan and strategy to create food sovereignty amongst the groups and communities that need it most. Swipe to see some examples.

Learn more about Nathan’s story and his vision for food sovereignty at the link in our bio . . . . .

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06/24/2020

Reposted from Father + Farmer from And founder of // check out his feature on !

06/21/2020

Reposted from Happy Father’s Day! Today we are spotlighting Nathan Lou of The Lou Family Farm & Nursery and founder of

MEET THE FARMER l NATHAN LOU

Nathan Lou fathers the soil and two little seedlings of his own aged 6 and 4. He is an arborist in training and nurtures ⅕ of an acre on his family’s land with a regenerative fruit orchard

He said he is always amazed that he can just place seeds into the open palms and outstretched fingers of his kids and they know what to do with them - they innately know what to do. “I want them to be empowered and know they are capable of feeding themselves and their own future communities.” When we asked Nathan what he wants to pass along to his kids, here’s what he said...I hope to instill a sense of appreciation for the environment and how connected we all are to it. We are not separate from it and if I can pass down the truth that when we embody that appreciation, it’s so easy to find joy and access it in everything around us. If they can find joy in the soil and understand it can sustain and give life and health, I’ve done a good job.

To fathers of soil and seedlings everywhere, have an incredible day, thank you for all you are and all you do.

The full feature on Nathan will be up this week! Sign up for our newsletter on our website at the link in our bio
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06/19/2020

Our white mulberry is a very special cultivar that takes on this amazing light amethyst color. This tree grows super fast, with over 20ft of branch growth per year! It is very easily propagated in the winter from dormant cuttings. Have y'all tasted fresh mulberries? This one is very light and mild flavored.

05/02/2020

Loquats are one of our favorite fruits! We've been harvesting these sweet delights for the last few weeks. They taste like a mix of citrus and apricot, super juicy. Cover crops are coming in thick! 🌱💪🏽
@ Bonita, California

03/28/2020

Chicks and flowers! Spring is here and we are enjoying the gentle rains. Seeds are sprouting, flowers are blooming and winter veggies are producing nicely alongside the cover crops.
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01/07/2020

Two more banana🍌 racks almost finished up! These are the first off of these stands and our third this season. Citrus 🍊 have just begun to ripen, collard greens 🥬 are filling out, and the cover crops are sprouting nicely. Keep an eye out for our upcoming orchard 🌳 workshops over the next few months including pruning, grafting, and how to root tree cuttings. Leave us a message 👇🏼 if your interested in joining! 👨🏼‍🌾💪🏼
@ Bonita, California

11/21/2019

We scattered our cover crop seeds last Friday, a few days before our first major precipitation of the season! We spread about 2000 sqft worth throughout the farm. White clover under the orchard and the rest amongst the food forest. Hope we get solid germination rates and a good coverage!
@ Bonita, California

11/14/2019

Here are some of our thoughts about urban agriculture and the state of the food system. Take a listen and let us know what you enjoyed! Is there something you'd like to hear more about? Leave is a comment below 👇🏼

Listen to Nathan Lou Slow Food And Urban Agriculture by Studio H216 Podcast on

11/08/2019

We are stoked for pomegranate season! We have seven different types planted at the farm. Our 13 trees are two years old and beginning to produce their first fruits. So far our favorites are parfianka and Utah sweet. Do you have any planted? If so, which do you love? Have any amazing recipes to share?
@ Bonita, California