Gaviota Givings

Guner Tautrim’s family has owned and farmed Orella Ranch along the Gaviota Coast since1866. He and Heidi met at Dos Pueblos High School, married and have been raising their family at the ranch. As a longtime permaculturist, Guner oversaw the bulk of operations on the ranch while Heidi maintained her career as a massage therapist at an upscale Goleta resort. Orella Ranch had been developing a retail side to their farming operations, called Gaviota Givings, where they raised heritage Kunekune pigs, chickens, and even a few cattle.

Everything changed for Heidi on March 16 last year, when the pandemic hit and her massage business was put on indefinite hold while Santa Barbara County went into lockdown. So she focused on the ranch business, and she dove full-on into raising the farm animals, working the fields and expanding retail sales. As county residents retreated into their homes, they also looked into more local sources for their food. With Heidi managing sales and organizing the business, Gaviota Givings met the increased local demand. All of Gaviota Givings’ beef, pork and poultry are raised to Orella’s sustainable land management standards, meaning the animals are raised organically, ethically and compatibly with the farmland overlooking the beautiful Gaviota coastline.

For Heidi, it was an opportunity to immerse herself with the land she lives on, truly hands-in-the-dirt time. She is vibrant and personable and a natural at organizational details and record-keeping—all skills that helped the business thrive. In place of resort clients, she is now spending time making deliveries, growing relationships with restaurants and households and engaging with the community at pop-ups, like at Captain Fatty’s Brewery in Goleta. With a simple rural turnoff from Highway 101, the Gaviota Coast turns out to be centrally located to serve all corners of Santa Barbara County. Customers now come from as far as Cuyama seeking their organically raised meat.

Her therapy business was once the stable foundation of their family. But the switch to ranch work created synergy with the Orella team, resulting in a successful pivot to meet the demand for local food. Working alongside Guner (and their children) has been a surprise success in a time when so much was uncertain. Their teamwork has now outpaced the income her service industry job once provided. Simultaneously supplying Gaviota Givings’ organic and ethically produced meat to happy customers has created a much greater sense of community and connection than she could ever have with resort clients. It was simply the better fit—financially and culturally. That, coupled with her deeper intertwined relationship with the land and its animals, has forever changed her role at Orella Ranch from resident to farmer.

You can find them on Instagram @Gaviota_givings.