We first noticed Avalos Farms high quality vegetables at the Berkeley Farmer’s Market. Efren is a graduate from the ALBA program in Salinas and has great farming skills. We enjoy meeting him on the road on his way to markets to pick up our fresh cucumbers. Efren picks the cucumbers the day before we make pickles from them. It is the freshness and quality that makes the difference!

Greg and Patrick of Blue Moon Organics have a real knack for growing deliciously sweet strawberries for our strawberry jam. Their fields are in a beautiful hidden valley 10 miles from our kitchen. We love Blue Moon strawberries. Catch the buzz!

Dale and Kristine Coke have carried on the family farm and it’s reputation for great produce with a warm smile. They grow the best beets. They are clean and smooth and perfect for our pickled beets.

In 1979, Rick and Kristie Knoll purchased a weedy 10-acre alfalfa field. Twenty-three years later, it is a thriving, productive entity that grows some of the most outstanding produce in the Bay Area. This small piece of land in the middle of a growing suburb is a wonderful example of what a small family farm can achieve. Along with a great variety of produce, plants and weeds, they raise 20 free-range chickens, a pot-bellied pig, two cats, one dog, and a host of beneficial birds and insects. Everyone and everything on this farm is integral to creating its thriving, biodynamic ecosystem.

Maria Catalan has a great life story which emanates from her knowing smile. She is a graduate of the ALBA program in Salinas and is one of the only latina women in the US who runs her own farm and CSA program. The entire Catalan family is a pleasure to work with and it is fun to see their kids along for the ride like ours are. We are happy to have them supply us with our salsa fixings and fresh pickling cucumbers.

Tom and Constance Bros are really offering a wonderful space for our community. They have a rockin’ CSA and open their doors as a community educational site to the community at large. You can check their website for their many upcoming events. They have a larger vision of what a farm can offer their local community. Bravo! We love using Live Earth’s apricots, pears, green beans, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, dry farmed tomatoes and basil. We also make jam and preserved tomatoes for their CSA.

Working for Andy and Julia in 1997 is where our farming careers on the central coast began. Since then Mariquita has acquired a much deserved rock-star status. They have one of the largest and thriving CSA’s in the country. Andy’s growing practices are admirable and his stories are brilliant and hilarious (no matter how many times we have heard them). Sign up for their newsletter to stay in touch with what is going on in the fields. We get all of our basil for pesto from Mariquita Farm.

Molino Creek is a farming co-operative that has the long term vision of organic farming and community. They are the kings of dry-farmed tomatoes in the central coast. We love having their tomatoes for our preserved dry farms and ketchup. You can eat Molino Creeks dry farmed tomatoes year round by shopping Happy Girl!

Phil Foster is a top notch farmer and an inspiration to us all. Pinnacle is one of the most organized and efficient farms I know of and he consistently grows primo produce. Aside from that, Phil is a role model for the beyond-organic sustainable movement. He dedicates 5 acres to making all of his own compost, has solar panels powering his cooler, runs his equipment and vehicles on bio fuels and has a thoughtful balance on orchards and row crops. We are very pleased that Pinnacle Farm provides us with heirloom tomatoes and other salsa fixings and sweet peppers. Thanks Phil!

Jeff Larky is a classic Santa Cruz farmer with the grooviest crew at his markets. They consistently offer top quality produce and flowers at great prices. We love using their fresh herbs and look forward to using more of their offerings this year!

Flowin’ & Growin’ on the Central Coast

We met Jaime Collins at the Monterrey Market 8 years ago and she has become a great friend of ours. She has beautiful farmland down in Carmel and has a sprouting CSA among many other cool projects developing. We are proud to use her strawberries in our low sugar jam and her sun-dried tomatoes are out of this world! We also make strawberry jam and dilly beans for her to sell at her markets.

Betty and her son Peter are two of the most likable people we work with and they also grow two of the most likable crops; cherries and apricots. Their fruit is top quality and has a well deserved cult following. I love going to their packing shed in peak cherry season bustling with activity. It takes me back to a time when the whole Silicon Valley was stone fruit. A cherry by any other name just is not the same!