People
Annabelle Lenderink and Nick Civetz, with 40 full-time employees
Farmland
100 in Bolinas (only one-third of the land is cultivated; it also includes a perennial creek, wildlands, and housing for nearly all farm workers), 25 miles to San Francisco; and 60 in Thermal, about 515 miles to San Francisco
About
Star Route Farms was started by Warren Weber in 1974 on five acres and is the oldest continuously certified organic farm in California. The farm is known for its innovativeness and commitment to implementing economically, environmentally, and socially sustainable practices. In 1990, the farm acquired a plot of land in the Coachella Valley, on which they now grow a range of crops to provide a continuous supply of produce in the winter. The farm uses natural fertilizers and cover crops to enrich their soils. In 2017, the farm was sold to the University of San Francisco. It continues to be managed by Annabelle and Nick to grow produce for the market. The farm also hosts academic visitors for classes and research.
Certification
Marin Organic Certified Agriculture (MOCA) since 2001; Salmon Safe certified since 2007
People
Ignacio (Nacho) and Casamira Sanchez and their daughters (Christyna, Serena, and Savannah), along with 15 full-time and 5 part-time employees
Farmland
625 acres on 13 plots of land in Fresno, Kings, and Tulare counties, about 200 miles to San Francisco
About
Nacho Sanchez graduated from Fresno State with a B.S. in agriculture. In 1989, he bought a six-acre orchard with his wife, Casamira, which they farmed in their spare time. By 1993, Nacho had acquired over 150 acres and was farming full-time. Nacho and Casamira feel good knowing that workers can pick fruit and customers can enjoy it without worrying about pesticide residues. Any fruit the Sanchezes don’t sell is incorporated back into their soil.
Certification
Quality Assurance International (QAI) Organic Certification since June 1999
People
Curtis and Priscilla Lucero and 6 seasonal employees
Farmland
20 acres in Galt, Sacramento County about 90 miles to San Francisco
About
Curtis’ father, Ben Lucero, started his first organic farm in the 1960s, and when the farmers market movement took off in the early 1990s, Ben’s efforts started to pay off. In 2006, Ben’s eldest son, Curtis, retired from the Army as a Military Police Non-Commissioned Officer with 20 years of Active Duty, and returned to help run the family farm. His wife, Priscilla ran a licensed daycare and preschool on the farm from 2009-2018. Ben and his wife, Karen, retired from farming in 2018. Curtis and Priscilla purchased a 20-acre ranch in Galt, where they are creating a sustainable, biodiverse farm that encompasses the entire ecosystem. To maintain soil fertility, they rotate crops, plant cover crops, and apply compost.
People
Brother and sister team Wayne and Lee James, with 5 full- and 3 part-time employees
Farmland
16 acres in Santa Rosa, about 55 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market
About
Tierra Vegetables was seeded in 1980, producing a diversity of crops, including rare dried beans, heirloom grain corn, popcorn, and fresh produce. It is renowned for the many varieties of chile peppers, carrots, and sweet peppers that they grow. In 2007, Tierra Vegetables completed a new commercial kitchen that they are using to expand their offering of farmstead processed products to include sweet and spicy chile jams, hot sauce, freshly ground cornmeal, dry chiles, and heirloom corn masa and tortillas.
Tierra Vegetables believes in using “the best possible sustainable methods” for a healthy and lasting farming system. Along with selling at farmers markets, Tierra Vegetables operates a farm stand and offers CSA boxes. They also supply ingredients for several San Francisco and Sonoma County restaurants.
People
Steven and Lisa Kashiwase, along with 3 full-time and 40 seasonal or part-time employees
Farmland
148 acres in Winton, about 119 miles to San Francisco
About
Steven’s family has strong ties to the land in California’s Central Valley. His grandfather started a 20-acre vineyard in the 1920s, and his father purchased most of the current acreage of Kashiwase Farms in 1948. After studying pomology and entomology at UC Davis, Steven began farming in the 1970s and converted to organic in the 1990s.
Steven and Lisa strive to maintain the farm, both ecologically and financially, for the next generation. Marketing directly to consumers at farmers markets and planting a diversity of crops are both important to sustaining the operation.
Certification
California Certified Organic Farmer since 1997
People
Bill Crepps, along with 1 full-time and 3 to 4 seasonal employees
Farmland
28 acres comprise 5 plots of land in Winters, about 80 miles to San Francisco
About
Bill began farming in 1987 after completing a graduate degree in alternative farming techniques. He farmed organically for years and continues to use all the same practices, although he is no longer certified. Bill grows a wide variety of crops and encourages biological diversity on the farm. He does not use any synthetic chemicals. Everything Under the Sun dries many of its products so that they can attend farmers markets year-round. All fruits are fully ripe before they are hand-cut and dried, and no preservatives are added. All products are sun-dried through-out the summer and into fall; the rest of the year, a low temperature dehydrator is used. Bill is always experimenting and working to expand his dried food selection.
People
Al and Rebecca Courchesne, and co-owner Sarah Coddington, with 60 full-time and 110 seasonal employees
Farmland
280 acres in Brentwood, about 50 miles to San Francisco.
About
Al, Becky, and Sarah all grew up in the Bay Area. Al graduated from UC Berkeley with a degree in anthropology and started Frog Hollow Farm in 1976. Farmer Al, as he likes to be called, has grown the farm from a small one-man show into a 253-acre farm specializing in stone fruits, with a line of conserves, marmalades, pastries, dried fruits, and olive oil. Frog Hollow Farm is committed to growing fruit and making products that are socially and environmentally sustainable. They share their harvest directly with customers through their CSA, website, and farmers markets.
Certification
California Certified Organic Farmer (CCOF) since 1989
People
Glenn Stonebarger and Roy Ghiggeri, along with 7 full-time and 60 seasonal employees
Farmland
1200 acres in Brentwood, about 55 miles from the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market.
About
Emilio Ghiggeri planted the first sweet corn in Brentwood in the 1940s, when the area was known primarily for its production of lettuce, apricots, and melons. The farm became G&S (Ghiggeri and Stonebarger) Farms in the 1980s, when Glenn Stonebarger, who is a third-generation Brentwood farmer, married Emilio’s daughter, Jeannie. Today, Brentwood is famous for its sweet corn production, and in particular, a variety called Brentwood Diamonds, which G&S Farms was the first to grow in the 1990s. G&S Farms maintains soil fertility by rotating crops and adding synthetic fertilizers. They control pests with synthetic pesticides.
