We spoke to the musician about all the whys — why food, why farming, why Oceanside, why coffee?

The middle of nowhere is the best nowhere to be. After all the development in San Diego over the decades, it’s hard to believe a place like South Morro Hills exists. This is farmland. You’ve read about it in books. It’s east of downtown Oceanside, across the 5 Freeway, down some windy roads, a couple blocks past the moon.

Jason Mraz stands on a makeshift stage, guitar in hand, at the future site of what he hopes will be his and his wife’s “little coffee laboratory.” Following the lead of pioneering farmer Jay Ruskey, Mraz and a handful of others are growing the equatorial plant in Southern California.