Adelante Soil Co.

Tucked into the hills of Temecula, California, Adelante Soil Co. is more than a farm – it is a living story of migration, memory, and regeneration. On 22 acres of land, the Martinez family is restoring soil, deepening roots, and reimagining agriculture in Southern California.

Raul Martinez came to California from Mexico in the 1970s, first as a seasonal farmworker and later as an upholsterer raising his family in Los Angeles. In their backyard garden, he taught his children to compost, to listen to the land, and to respect the living soil beneath their feet. Today, that early wisdom guides the next generation. Michael and David Martinez now co-direct Adelante Soil Cooperative, bringing their family’s shared love of land stewardship into full bloom.

Their vision is both ambitious and beautifully grounded. Across three microclimates, Adelante nurtures about 100 native plant species – including Coast Live Oak and Western Sycamore – alongside a planned orchard of mangos, papayas, guavas, and mulberries. But more than planting trees, the family is cultivating a whole-system ecology where water, microbes, people, and pollinators all thrive in relationship.

“I want people to remember that we are part of the trees, the streams, the native plants and pollinators,” says Michael. “The more we care about their livelihood, the more everyone benefits.”

Adelante’s soil-building practices are as thoughtful as they are joyful: compost and mulch to revive microbial life, hugelkultur berms to retain water and stabilize hillsides, old tree trunks reincorporated into the land as habitat and carbon sinks. Based on COMET modeling, the family’s approach can draw down carbon at under $12 per ton – an incredible value for climate mitigation rooted in community-scale care.

PFL is [fiscal sponsor] to Adelante. Their work has been supported by the 11th Hour Project and a Zero Foodprint Restore grant, which funds compost application and tree planting. The Martinez family’s approach is deliberate and loving: rather than stripping land for monoculture, they prepare the ground first – laying compost, building moisture, and planting with intention.

“There is joy in applying life-giving materials to land that is bare and exposed,” Michael reflects. “It is the feeling of healing.”

In naming the farm Adelante, the family chose a word that means “forward” in Spanish – but also a word of welcome: Come in. Let us grow together. In that spirit, they are building a place for regeneration, for community, and for the long view of stewardship – rooted in memory, resilience, and hope for generations to come.