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Crime & Safety

Claudia Archer, Crime Prevention Analyst, Pepper Vendor

Find out about the UC Berkeley police crime prevention expert who also sells peppers at the Kensington Farmers' Market.

Name: Claudia Archer

Age: 58

Occupation: Administrative analyst in crime prevention in the UC Berkeley police department

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Archer helps with her husband Richard Archer’s farm, Groundsel’s Westgarden, located in American Canyon, at the farm stand.

We grow padrone peppers, which are from Spain. We grow peppers which we pickle. These are from the Basque region of Spain. And then we have New Mexico green chiles, which are similar to the hatch chiles, and we have Italian flat green beans. We’re growing beans, we’ll have Swiss chard and spinach soon, and in the fall my husband harvests pumpkins.

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I also work in the University of California police department. I’m in crime prevention. My husband farms full-time up in American Canyon. He has about eight acres.

Do you work at UC Berkeley? Yes.

Do you help grow? Not too much, because I’m pretty busy. I can’t really get up there that much. He’s the main person up there.

How did your husband get into farming? He was a farmer in Pennsylvania, near Lancaster County. He had a couple of farm stands there, and when he moved out here he sort of gave that up and now he’s back into it.

Are you local to the area? We live in Richmond and farm in Napa. My husband is in Walnut Creek right now, at the farmers' market there.

What do you do you like to do for fun if you ever have the time? Cooking.

Do you have a favorite dish? I love chile rellenos which I use the New Mexico green chiles in. I love rhubarb – I just made a rhubarb pie.

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