As a child, Carissa Ultsch never hesitated to jump in a stream and bring home a crawdad or frog she had captured.
As an adult, she shares her love of farming and country life in a unique way, using maps, luxury rentals and their own farmstand.tv channel.
Ultsch and her husband, Cory Dzbinski, operate their own farm stand, Mini Barn Market. On a recent sunny Sunday afternoon, the market hosted a steady stream of regular and new visitors.
Some of the regulars pointed out their favorite purchases to the newbies, and even described what they knew about how the products were grown.
Mini Barn Market is just one of the business ventures at Red Barn Ranch, the couple’s home base in Ramona.
The 4-acre property is host to the main house, a tiny home described as “an industrial mini-mansion,” a fruit orchard and a variety of home-grown produce, such as tomatoes, lettuce, carrots and beets.
The farm also specializes in growing loofah sponges and a variety of mushrooms, such as lion’s mane, and yellow, pink and blue shiitakes.
The resulting produce is sold at the farm stand.
For Ultsch, who has lived in Ramona for the past 12 years, teaching others about sustainability and farm life is a lifelong ion.
“My parents weren’t nature lovers. But by the time I was three years old, I was always just going through the grass figuring out what weeds I could eat,” the 40-year-old said. “I have stories of eating the wrong things!”
Noting that she’s always been a plant lover, she tends to focus on taking care of the natural side of her projects, while Dzbinski does the websites, marketing and cameras that farmstand.tv needs.
Their son, 5-year-old Legend, meanwhile, is “a true farm kid.”
“He helps with everything, from collecting eggs in the mornings to laying irrigation,” she said.
Legend already understands the importance of sustainability, she said. He has been known to take tadpoles from their pond to the greenhouse, so they would grow up to be frogs and “eat bugs.”
They also feature products from other local small farms, under the condition that the items are grown without chemicals or hormones. Dry goods and novelties can also be found at the farm stand.
“Anything that goes into our farm stand is labeled, and we tell our patrons where it comes from,” said Ultsch.
Although the ranch houses a variety of poultry, such as chickens, ducks, turkeys and even peacocks, Ultsch said their customers can expect to find only the birds’ eggs for sale.
“We don’t grow animals for food — we don’t eat our friends. We feel really good about that,” she said.
However, they do sell beef products from Cahuilla Mountain Ranch, a local producer, at the stand.
The main house and tiny home are typically rented together, although they can be rented separately during slow times. In all, the seven bedrooms can sleep up to 20. The family lives in a third house on the property.
In addition to promoting farm life in general, Ultsch and Dzbinski also showcase their neighboring farm stands.
One method is through the illustrated and interactive maps they’ve created and feature on their website, www.farmstand.tv/maps.
There are just under 20 locations featured on the maps, out of about 30 farm stands in Ramona, she said.
“We didn’t add anyone to the map that doesn’t have a physical farm stand or standard hours, as we need to be able to communicate,” she said.
Their illustrated farm stand map is colorful, easy to read and print, and features many places of interest in Ramona in addition to the farm stands.
Kayla Cobert, owner of Fruitful Organics, a farm stand on 18737 Highland Valley Road, said she and Ultsch are “farm stand friends.”
“We both have goals doing the same things. We share seeds and vegetables and we help each other out,” said Cobert, who sells Mini Barn Market relish in her farm stand.
She’s also seen the difference the maps can make for her business.
“The very first day she posted the illustrated map, we had someone drive up from San Diego,” Cobert said.
There are also a couple of different interactive maps. The Ramona Farmstand Driving map, using Google Maps, allows s to navigate farm stands using their phone.
The Ramona Farmstand Virtual map, using Google Earth, displays a detailed interactive map with street views.
Both maps allow viewers to zoom in or out. Once a farm stand icon is clicked, the name, address and a URL for that stand’s website is displayed.
Katie Ostrander, manager at The Golden Eagle Farm, 27236 Highway 78 in Ramona, said the printed illustrated maps are given to guests at any of the three rentals on the property as part of their welcome package.
Since the maps also include area wineries, she said it “makes for a really rad agritourism tour” for guests.
The maps have also benefited Ramona farm stands in several other unexpected ways.
“Because of the maps, a lot of us farm stand owners have been able to get in with each other. We’ve been able to carry each other’s products and we are even going to events together,” Ostrander said.
Ultsch said Farmstand.TV is another method they are using to promote Ramona’s many farm stands.
Through the YouTube channel, they are in the process of creating individual videos for all the local farm stands wishing to participate, she said.
So far for the new venture, they have featured their Mini Barn Market and Broken Bit Ranch.
For each farm stand, Ultsch will explain how they got started, what they specialize in, their hours, location and how they operate.
Since many of the stands are unstaffed and operate based on the honor system, Ultsch felt it was important for each owner featured to give the viewers a glimpse into who they are, and what to expect at each stop.
“Hopefully, we serve as an inspiration so that the public can see the differences in each farm stand,” she said, noting that every location is unique.
The family’s other holding, Mountain Retreat, located next to Dos Picos Park, is also used to showcase Ramona’s farm and country life.
“It’s eight acres of hiking trails, and I often use the property to host foraging workshops, where I teach people about edible wild plants,” Ultsch said. “It’s what I get really excited about.”
Since no chemicals are used on any of their properties, the couple are able to make delicacies such as dandelion jelly, pesto and tea from stinging nettle and salad mixes from miner’s lettuce.
Ultsch described the land as full of boulders and oaks, with moss and streams running through it. And since there are no convenience stores close to the park, she hopes to be able to open a farm stand at the location by this summer.
Mountain Retreat is also a vacation rental; the four-bedroom home can sleep up to 14.
Ultsch said within a few days she will transition from an outside job to working on the farming businesses full time, along with her husband.
She is most exciting about being able to teach even more workshops.
“I love the foraging workshops where we use what we harvest,” she said.
Other workshops range from making smudge sticks from both black and white sage, to harvesting and making loofahs, soaps and butters.
She also teaches mini-workshops for children, catering to their ages and interests, such as plant art or potting seeds.
“I’m going to have a lot more time to do more things; I can’t wait,” she said.
For more information, visit: farmstand.tv , email: [email protected] or call 760-440-8881. Mini Barn Market is located at 17111 Whirlwind Lane, Ramona. To learn about the rentals, visit: farmhousegetaways.com.
