Alice bamford one gun ranch images

Eat What You GrowWe eat seasonally—as much biodynamic Ranch-grown [food] as possible—and are excited to celebrate each food as it’s ready, often eating raw. We eat root to flower, to make as little waste as possible. One of our favorite recipes (which is in our book) is roasted carrots with carrot-top pesto. [We even turn our produce] into a sorbet if possible. I’m lucky that what I love to eat is what’s good for me. Eating healthy should never feel like you’re sacrificing. Why don’t you see it as an opportunity to bring other delicious things into your diet and open up your health to a new chapter?

Drink Your EnergyTo kick off the morning, we drink Laird Instafuel. It’s like coffee, with palm oil and coconut and all sorts of goodies in it—and no jitters! [Laird Hamilton] is a good friend of ours. He has this before he goes surfing in the morning so he can have sustained energy. I also take Four Sigmatic every morning. It’s made by these mushroom specialists here—with reishi, cordyceps, chaga—they’re full of adaptogens. People are becoming so aware of how beneficial mushrooms are. It gives me prolonged clarity—it’s not an instant fix, but beneficial from the inside out. Then I drink lots of tea throughout the day. We love green tea and free sliced ginger, and have just created our own tea based on biodynamic preparations containing yarrow, stinging nettle, borage, passion flower, and valerian that are alchemic and nourishing.

Exercise in the Fresh Air Every Day[I] like to get outside to keep fit, and to move my body as much as possible. I run and hike trails and ride my horse, Buckshot, every day. He’s got surfer hair. It’s meditation on four legs. On weekends I surf, paddleboard, wake surf, and water-ski in the Pacific Ocean. Oh my goodness—I find it so utterly humbling, calming, and spiritual. It’s the adrenaline, as well. It’s so cleansing. It picks you up in the best possible way and clears your head.

Buy a Good Hat—And a Good SPFI’m in the sun eve

Tucked in the hills of Malibu with sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean, One Gun Ranch in Malibu is a little slice of Instagram-ready heaven.

Sadly, Instagram is the best place to view the majestic ranch as visiting the 20-acre compound is one of the toughest tickets in town.

Don’t despair. One Gun Ranch is open to the public several times a year, when owners Alice Bamford and Ann Eysenring host workshops on composting and practical farming. You just have to consult their Instagram feed to find out when.

While you patiently wait, the couple’s gorgeous new book, “One Gun Ranch Malibu: Biodynamic Recipes for Vibrant Living” (Regan Arts, $40), takes you behind the scenes of their working farm with tips on biodynamic farming, an ages-old approach that fuses agriculture with spirituality, exercise offerings and simple recipes.

Need more reasons to go?

Welcome to One Gun Ranch, a sunlit paradise of simple, sustainable living, and the new standard in biodynamics. A transformative approach to nutrition, fitness, and well-being that nourishes the spirit as well as the body.

• More than 100 fresh, nutrient-packed recipes, including Banana-Bee Pollen Splits, “Super Snacks” like Malibu Energy Balls, tasty takes on old favourites Zucchini Bolognese, Dark Chocolate & Beet Brownies, and Turmeric Tonics.
• Over 50 easy, effective exercises, including a wild-food foraging hike and full-moon meditations.
• Preparing your own seasonal biodynamic menu: with Root Days, Fruit Days, Leaf Days, and Flower Days to help you “eat your vitamins”.
• Growing, harvesting, and eating according to the cycles of the moon.
• Planting your own garden, of any size, anywhere.
• The perfect recipe for Biodynamic Supersoil, the world’s best compost.
• Medicinal plants and healing herbs from the One Gun’s famous living apothecary.

Owners Alice Bamford and Ann Eysenring speak to how their biodynamic farm, a local mainstay, navigates the changing times

Words by ELIZABETH VARNELL

For One Gun Ranch’s Alice Bamford, Malibu is “a wildly elemental, incredible vortex.” The city is home to both the biodynamic farm she and partner Ann Eysenring own and the two-story general store called Ranch at the Pier they opened at the end of Carbon Beach’s landmarked jetty. Since Bamford and Eysenring planted roots here in 2008, they have constantly discovered new ways to nourish their community.

On Sundays, Bamford and Eysenring, who live on their ranch, load up a vintage airstream and ’74 Ford truck with fresh produce. “Once a week, the ranch comes to the pier,” quips Bamford, who stocks crates with seasonal goods like avocados, grapefruit, limes, shishito peppers, jalapenos and a host of herbs and spices, all grown in the ranch’s signature Super(ior) Soil.

Raised amid her family’s sprawling organic farms in the Cotswolds, Bamford quietly disseminates her soil-first philosophy while selling seeds and even her trademark compost (a biodynamic mix of manure and alfalfa layered with yarrow, chamomile, stinging nettle, oak bark, dandelions, horsetail and valerian flowers) at the outpost on the pier.

Among the harvest is a new show of L.A.-based artist Jade Antoine’s drawings of rural homesteads, farms, cowgirls and prairie life that runs through January. “Her work is happy and uplifting, reminding us of living in the moment and connecting with nature,” Bamford says. A year after the devastating Woolsey fires, for them, finding creative ways to connect back to the land is vital.

“We don’t sell anything that we wouldn’t want to take home”

Alice Bamford

Beyond garden-grown offerings and Antoine’s artwork, Eysenring, who grew up in Mal