Sage Farm is an historic property located in the unincorporated community of Radec in Riverside County, California.
A Storied Past
The Farmer was a Wizard
The 525-acre farm, which once belonged to the iconic actor Frank Morgan, is about seven miles southeast of Temecula. Frank raised cattle, horses and grew a variety of crops in between films during his heyday in Hollywood. A passionate farmer, Frank owned the property and broke away when he could to dig his hands in the soil when he wasn’t acting. During his career, Morgan portrayed five different characters, including the illusive wizard himself, in the iconic movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” Frank’s original home, as well as caretaker’s structures, still stand in good condition today.
Desert Ecology
In the shadow of Palomar Mountain and chaparral plains abutting the Cleveland National Forest, Sage Farm is located at an elevation of 1,700 feet in the Inland Hills Ecoregion and Desert Bioregions of Southern California. It was sold by the Morgan Estate to someone who had less agricultural and ecological intentions in mind. Rich in sand and gravel, several areas of the property were strip mined from the late 1970s to well into the 2000s, with tens of thousands of tons of material removed for sale.
Vast Potential
When we purchased the property in 2004, there was a 10-acre pit lake and lots of disturbed mined land, but some of the farmland, and much of the chaparral and rocky outcrops emblematic of the rugged beauty of the region remained, and the high western desert vibe captured our hearts.
Return to Farm
Since acquiring the property, we’ve planted hundreds of trees, mostly California Peppers, put nearly half of the acreage into row crop and dry farming, and continuously regenerate and amend the soil with organic matter from compost produced onsite at our fully permitted facility. We have also planted a vineyard full of grapevines.
Healthy Food
Onions, cabbage, radishes and melons, among other crops, thrive in the now fertile soil, and bees from the some 3,000 hives onsite happily pollinate and produce dozens of gallons of pure golden honey every year.
Regeneration
Ravished mined soil is being reclaimed and brought back to life. And barley, alfalfa and timothy hay are dry farmed and flourish in the humus rich soil. Everything is grown without pesticides and herbicides, a strict mandate adhered to on Sage Farm.
Compost-enriched Soil
Compost produced from our ancillary operation is frequently sampled and lab-tested, meeting strict specifications developed and enforced by CalRecycle, a division of the California Environmental Protection Agency. Using it primarily on our own farmland soil and crops we eat ourselves, we wouldn’t have it any other way. At times we also share our biologically diverse and rich compost with other farmers in the region.
