Meet Alley Maskrey and Charlie Norris of Random Ass Farm in Vista

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alley Maskrey and Charlie Norris.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Alley and Charlie. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
Charlie and I have always had a love for gardening, nature and animals. We lived in a beach house in Encinitas and had a teeny tiny garden we built ourselves. We started growing vegetables and sunflowers in our garden, which led us to dream of having more property to expand our garden and transition to a lifestyle where we could live off the land and provide for our own needs. We moved to a 16-acre hass avocado grove in early 2019 in Vista, San Diego (close to where we both grew up) and Random Ass Farm was born. We both left our full-time jobs to pursue farming full-time and here we are almost two years later, with a family of about forty animals.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Our first year (2019) was a lot smoother than this year. With last year’s harvest, we were able to produce just over 160,000 pounds of avocados. This year however, we have been dealing with water issues, weather issues, and the coronavirus. Our main market is the foodservice industry, and from April-March all food service industries in the area closed down and stopped buying our produce. Our water source also changed this year to a much saltier water which has been tough on our fruit.

We’d love to hear more about your business.
We primarily grow and sell hass avocados to stores throughout California, Texas and Chicago. We grow and sell organic cut flowers to local florists and restaurants around the San Diego area. We also sell Random Ass boxes of vegetables, fresh eggs and a bouquet. We are currently working on building our glass studio so Charlie will be able to teach glass blowing lessons on the farm.

What were you like growing up?
Charlie grew up not too far from the farm. He grew up on about an acre of land surrounded by lush green trees and free-range chickens. He started dirt biking at a young age and had his own track in his backyard that he built. So naturally, when we moved to the farm one of the first things he did was build a dirt bike track. He was raised in a family of artists which led him to begin blowing glass in 2011.

I grew up in Oceanside, California, as an outgoing, goofy little kid. I spent summers on the beach with my friends, traveled around with my family. I went to college in Santa Barbara after high school, then moved to LA and finished my studies at Cal State Northridge University. After graduating, I moved home to San Diego to pursue a career in law., but after working in law for four years, I began to feel burned out, uninspired and began daydreaming of farming full time. Now, here we are!

Pricing:

• Hass Avocados – $16 (8 avocados)
• Farm Fresh Flowers – $25-75 (bouquet)
• Custom Glass – Starting at $75 (cup, vase, etc)

Contact Info:

• Website: https://randomassfarm.org
• Phone: (760) 310-3090
• Email: randomassfarm@gmail.com
• Instagram: Randomassfarm

Image Credit:
Lexi Haslem

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