We live in an amazing region, rich in agriculture, and we love highlighting our local farmers and ranchers with whom we have a strong connection.
Highlights from the Team Featuring Coastside Farms and Ranches
03/19/2025
By: Kathy Webster
We live in an amazing region rich in agriculture, and we love highlighting our local farmers and ranchers with whom we have a strong connection. They not only provide our community with diverse vegetables, fruits, meats, and cheeses, but they are also our neighbors and friends.
Blue House Farm is an organic farm located in Pescadero and San Gregorio. Owner/operator Ryan Casey is a first-generation farmer and graduate of the Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems (CASFS) at UCSC. As another farm supported by POST, Blue House has restored and farmed on a historic 74-acre ranch in San Gregorio, where Ryan provides housing for his farm workers. Blue House offers a year-round farmstand and a seasonal u-pick strawberry and pumpkin option. Having two locations enables Blue House to grow a diversity of cool- and warm-season crops. Blue House Farm produce can be found at seven farmers’ markets throughout the Bay Area and, of course, their farmstand and u-pick.
Brisa Ranch is an organic, diversified fruit and vegetable farm that is values-driven and located on the coast in Pescadero. Owned and operated by three friends: Cristóbal Cruz Hernández, Veronica Mazariegos-Anastassiou, and Cole Mazariegos-Anastassiou. The three met while working at Pie Ranch but started the farm while managing other farms in the region. Brisa Ranch sells directly to grocery stores, school districts, corporate kitchens, hospitals, universities, food banks, restaurants, bakeries, caterers, and non-profit food access organizations.
Fifth Crow Farm is a diversified, organic farm in Pescadero that is guided by their belief in growing food that promotes human health and ecosystem health for generations to come. Grounded in a values-based approach to land stewardship, Fifth Crow Farm strives to bring eaters the highest quality, best tasting, and most nutritious food possible. Over the last decade, owners/operators John Vars, Teresa Kurtak, and Mike Irving have grown the farm to 150 acres with 30 acres of row crops, a 24-variety apple orchard, a pear orchard, and a pastured egg operation. You can find their products at five farmers markets throughout the Bay Area, CSA membership, online store, and various restaurants and grocery stores.
Fogline Farms raises organically fed, pastured poultry in Pescadero on 40 acres adjacent to Ano Nuevo State Park. The chickens are moved daily to fresh grass with access to bugs, worms, fresh air, and sunlight. Producer/owner Caleb Barron attended the UCSC CASFS apprenticeship program in ecological horticulture and then apprenticed at Pie Ranch. Fogline Farms operates its certified kitchen in downtown Santa Cruz, where they further process the chicken into popular products (boneless chicken breasts, thighs, wings) with their skilled butchers. You can find Fogline chicken at six Bay Area and Santa Cruz farmers markets, grocery stores, and restaurants.
Harley Farms in Pescadero is a small-scale farmstead goat dairy that produces award-winning goat cheese. Owner/operator Dee Harley started Harley Farms with six goats in 1991. Operating in one of the original dairies that once lined the San Mateo Coast prior to the 1980s, Harley Farms is the only dairy in San Mateo County today. Not only known for its fantastic cheese, Harley Farms also hosts tours, dinners, and weddings and has a farm shop that sells all things goat and more (bath and body, olive oils, honey, and, of course, goat cheese)!
Jacobs Farm/del Cabo was one of the first organic producers in our region and has been producing organic produce since 1980. Starting with just eight acres in Pescadero, husband and wife co-founders Larry Jacobs and Sandra Belin continue to bring their passion for making lives better through food. Their philosophy is “Healthy Soils, Healthy Plants, Healthy People.” Jacobs Farm includes nearly five thousand acres of field-grown and greenhouse-grown herbs, tomatoes, and various veggies, and works with their del Cabo farmers who grow organic produce along the Baja California coast. Jacobs Farm/del Cabo produce can be found in retail grocery stores, such as Whole Foods and New Leaf.
Markegard Family Grass-fed raises certified grass-finished beef and lamb, as well as pasture-raised poultry and pork. Located in San Gregorio, with ranches in Pescadero and Sonoma County, they use their livestock to mimic the wild herds of elk and antelope and properly timed grazing to stimulate grassland health while focusing on watershed stewardship. Markegard products are available through their meat CSA and online shop, and can be delivered around the Bay Area or picked up at three farmers’ markets.
Pie Ranch is a working organic farm, education center, and organization building partnerships for a healthy and just food system. Their mission is to cultivate a healthy and just food system from seed-to-table through food education, farmer pathways, and regional partnerships. Located along the Pacific Coast Highway, Pie Ranch has a year-round farmstand selling their wheat flour, blue corn flour, dry heirloom beans, preserves, and other food grown and raised from local farms and ranches. They host several workshops, educational opportunities, and events throughout the year.
R&R Farms is an organic farm that leases 25 acres from POST, which includes a farmstand that offers an assortment of products. Owner/operator Jose Ramirez is a first-generation Mexican-American farm business owner and grows rosemary and berries. During berry season, R&R grows four acres of u-pick olallieberries, blackberries, raspberries, and strawberries.
Root Down Farm raises pastured chicken, turkeys, ducks, and hogs in Pescadero. Farmer/owner Dede Boies uses rotational grazing to improve soil and animal health while producing delicious and honest meat for the SF Bay Area community. Root Down leases 54 flat acres from Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST). Dede apprenticed at Pie Ranch with Caleb Barron (see Fogline Farms below). Today, the two farmers collaborate and coordinate to haul their poultry to one of the few poultry abattoirs in Northern California. You can find Root Down Farm’s products at two Bay Area farmers markets, restaurants, butcher shops, and retail shops.
Simms Organic is a 20-acre organic farm located in Pescadero. Owners/operators Mathieu Simms and Jennifer Jepsen are third-generation coast-siders with strong ties to the community. They grow a variety of vegetables, fruits, and herbs. To find their products, you can sign up for their CSA, go to their online delivery service, or visit one of three Bay Area farmers markets.
Steadfast Medicinal Herb Farm grows medicinal plants using organic farming practices at Root Down Farm. They create a variety of herbal medicines, fresh herbs, tinctures, and teas from their specialty herb farm. You can sign up for their seasonal CSA or find them in various local retail spaces around the Bay Area.
