Tucked into a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains, Ojai has always been more than a destination. It has deep agricultural roots and a long tradition of orchards, small farms, and people who feel a genuine connection to the land.
Rancho Torino is our family’s small piece of that tradition.
Our ranch has been a labor of love for many years. It is our home, the place where our children grew up, and a property that has gradually evolved around my love of gardening, farming, wine, animals, and the natural processes that make a piece of land come alive.
We approach the ranch with many of the principles of permaculture: working with natural systems rather than trying to overpower them. We encourage floral diversity, plant perennials extensively, build healthy soil, conserve water, and allow different parts of the property to support one another.
From the road, you would never know everything that is here. It is one of the old lots that runs three acres back, and it used to be connected four properties deep on either side, making big ranches with incredible history. Over the years most neighboring properties were divided up much more than ours, so it is one of the long lots that is fun to explore.
We have four distinct zones: the corrals, home to our flock of heritage Narragansett turkeys and two sulcata tortoises; the house compound, where the garden is the centerpiece; a barranca left natural like the Sespe; and the farm, with the vineyard and stone fruit orchard. In addition to wine and table grapes we grow artichokes, peaches, pluots, plums and apricots, Peruvian cactus, and an ever-changing assortment of fruits, vegetables, herbs, flowers, and perennial plants.
My wife is a teacher, our two children grew up here and attended school in the Ojai Valley, and I am a psychotherapist in private practice, although around here I sometimes joke that psychotherapy is my second job. More than anything, we enjoy sharing this place.
