Artisan baker grows wheat crop in San Diego County

SAN DIEGO — When you picture the many farms in San Diego County, you might picture avocados, oranges and other fruit, but wheat typically isn’t on the menu. One San Diego man is working to bring wheat back to Southern California.

A tedious task like weeding becomes a practice opportunity for Noris Velazquez.

“I can just weed the garden, and it becomes a martial arts training,” he said.  

Velazquez is a martial arts instructor and artisan bread maker. The collision of his two passions has earned him the nickname “Kung Fu Baker.” He planted a quarter acre of wheat in December 2023, hoping to spark a resurgence of wheat farming in San Diego.

In the late 19th century, California was once the nation’s second largest suppliers of wheat, but by the 1880s, many San Diego farmers opted to grow citrus and avocados instead.  

“Can one person do it?” Noris said. “Because ultimately I wanted to inspire farmers to go “You know, I’ve always wondered if I could grow a cover crop of wheat and not only get the cover crop aspect but also maybe something to harvest that I can use either in my family household or team up with a passionate baker in the area.”

His business, Sourdough Delight, focuses on putting only the best ingredients into his loaves. For Velazquez, that means baking bread with local ingredients, grown sustainably, without any pesticides. He is striving to create a flour that is more nutritious and heartier than the refined stuff from many wheat and commercial mills.

“I want that health and nutrition because flavor also follows that,” Velazquez said.  

Bean farmer Mike Reeske donated a chunk of land on his farm, Rio Del Rey, as an experimental playground. He said they tried growing 25 different wheat varieties last year, before settling on planting a full field of a wheat variety called India Jammu this year.

“We produced quite a bit of wheat,” Reeske said. “And so I think this is going to be a signal that other people can do this.”

They are also using a technique called dry farming — cultivating crops without irrigation — which Reeske believes will appeal to struggling farmers.

“We have probably one of the highest prices of water in the United States here, so being able to dry farm a crop and not pay for the water cost is really important,” he said.  

Months of dedication and hard work finally paid off at the end of May when Velazquez harvested the wheat. He will now let the wheat dry before threshing the grain to use in his bread.  

“Clean food, grown with love and care, and respect for our land, to nourish the community,” Velazquez said. “Nature just does miracles.”