Couple's Earth-friendly lifestyle takes root on Northern California rice farm
When wildlife biologists Greg Massa and Raquel Krach returned to the United States in 1997 after five years in Costa Rica, they hoped to live a lifestyle that matched their ideals.
They moved to the Northern California rice farm that had been in the Massa family for four generations and adopted two children, planted a few acres of organic rice and tried to create an ecologically friendly farm.
"We felt like we had a chance to put it all into practice," Krach said.
Today, they have succeeded in putting their organic rice business on the map as their family has grown to seven. They live on their farm near Chico in an energy-saving straw-bale house. River otters, herons, geese and other birds thrive nearby.
In their own small way, Massa and Krach are helping to improve farming practices in an industry that is not known for embracing change.
"You are more likely to take care of your land if you live on it," Massa said. "You don't want to spray [pesticides] around the kids. Anything that goes into the ground water, we drink."
Take straw, for example.
Instead of burning their leftover rice straw, a traditional method that spews hazardous silica into the air, they plow it into the soil in keeping with organic farming practices.
The couple used some of their rice straw to build an attractive two-story, straw-bale house, framed in wood and covered in stucco. This spring they held a house-raising to build a three-bedroom addition. Dozens of neighbors and friends showed up on a Saturday to help them lift the straw bales into place and stuff straw and mud into the cracks.
"I grew up in L.A.," Krach said as the walls went up. "Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would build my own house."
Massa and Krach said that by keeping the windows open at night and closing them in the morning, they can keep the house cool naturally during the summer, even when the temperature hits 100. Similarly, a fire in the wood stove is enough to keep the house warm in winter.
John Swearingen, the architect who designed the house, was on hand to help put up the new walls. Although building with straw bales is no cheaper than ordinary construction, he said, there is a huge savings in reduced energy costs.
Massa and Krach found themselves in sudden need of more space because their multiethnic family has grown quickly. After adopting their first two children, they began taking in infants who needed foster care. They cared for four children and eventually adopted three of them. Their children range from 2 to 9 years old.
