Toluma Farms is located two miles outside the town of Tomales. Tomales is a small town of 250 residents located in the California Coastal Zone of Northwest Marin County along scenic Highway One. The Farm is surrounded by beautiful coastal agricultural countryside.
Owners, David Jablons and Tamara Hicks (along with their two girls Josy and Emmy) purchased the land in 2003 and spent the first few years on significant land restoration in collaboration with NRCS, The STRAW Project, Marin Organic Certified Agriculture and Marin RCD. Thanks to Leo Ghirardelli of Superior Systems the property which was a cow dairy for several generations was transitioned to a goat dairy. Toluma Farms currently has 200 goats and began milking in June 2007.
Toluma Farms has been fortunate in recruiting smart, hardworking and committed individuals. All of the staff at Toluma Farms bring a wealth of experience either from previous work on a farm and/or environmental work.
Eric Butler, Herd Manager, lives on the farm taking care of the day to day needs of the goats. Eric grew up on a small farm in Escalon, CA where he and his family raised goats and beef cattle. Eric has had a lifelong interest in livestock production starting at a young age raising goats and cattle in 4-H and continuing on into high school as FFA projects. Eric decided to further pursue his interest in animal husbandry by obtaining a B.S. from UC Davis in Animal Science and Management. Following graduation Eric worked in the cattle genetics and reproduction field as well as on an organic cow dairy. Eric joined the Toluma Farms staff with the hope of utilizing his knowledge and skills that have been gained through the years and applying them at Toluma Farms. When he is not looking after the goats, Eric can usually be found admiring his Limousin cows that live on the farm and are part of the multi-species grazing pasture management program.
Laura Freeman, Assistant Herd Manager, is a western Washington native who moved to sunny California to explore a life of sustainable agriculture. She spent 14 months as an intern with Heifer Project International at their educational farm in the Central Valley. There she cared for the gardens and a variety of livestock and taught guests about hunger and sustainability. She fell in love with the goats and went on to gain experience at three different goat dairies (Modesto, Hawaii, and New Mexico) before landing and staying at Toluma Farms. Laura is interested in sustainable, local and humane agriculture, and is also a practicing massage therapist and freelance illustrator. When not milking, feeding or assisting kids being born, she spends way too much time in the barn smooching the Nubians on their long ears.
Anne Marie Vandendriessche milker and Cheesemaker was born and raised in Napa and has returned to CA after 6 years of working on small family farms in France. Based in South Eastern France, she worked or apprenticed on over 10 different farms, milking and making goat and sheep cheeses. While in France, Anne Marie also received a diploma from the Centre Fromager de Carmejane, an agricultural school that specializes in Farmstead Goat Milk Cheeses.
Apprentice
Callie Murphy
Volunteer
Sharon Jones, after 30 years of teaching Technical Communication at UC Berkeley, began volunteering at Toluma Farms. She loves the goats! Participating in the life at the farm is an important complement to her desire for simple, delicious food, grown sustainably, and she is looking forward to the coming Toluma creamery.
Jennifer O'Mara is a San Francisco native with familial Marin roots who regularly breaks from her work in strategic and financial analysis to get away for a "good for the soul" day at Toluma.
