EDIBLE LIFE: GET YOUR FARM FIX ONThere are local farms out there ready to welcome you for a visit—or even stay the night. On the farm: Top from Left: Tamara Clifford and her goats, goat’s milk cheese being served at Lucky Goat Family Farm; Bottom from Left: kids at play at Live Earth Farm and a plant sale at the UCSC Farm. Photography by Patrick Tregenza and Patrice Ward. Tamara Clifford was a caterer living north of Los Angeles in Agoura Hills when she and her husband Jeff decided to buy a 4. Monterey County as a weekend getaway. Bradley, CA » Bradley News & Announcements » Arts and Entertainment » Monterey County Pumpkin Patch Farms and Pumpkin Picking Guide - Monterey County. Monterey County Pumpkin Patch Farms and Pumpkin Picking. EDIBLE LIFE: GET YOUR FARM FIX ON. Serendipity Farms 9130 Carmel Valley Road. 10 Secret Gardens in Monterey County. Carmel Valley Earthbound Farms is set against the beautiful backdrop of Carmel Valley and is committed to organic. Enough remarkable things happen around MEarth at the Hilton Bialek Habitat—pop-up dinners with some of the most creative young chefs in the area code; kids growing, harvesting and prepping kohlrabi (as part of. 13 at Earthbound Farm, 7250 Carmel Valley Road, Carmel. Work at Earthbound Sign up for Organic Bound Newsroom. Get recipes, tips and exclusive coupons delivered straight to your inbox. You could save $50 a year! Find 5 listings related to Earthbound Farms in Salinas on YP.com. Earthbound Farm's Farm Stand Pumpkin Patch Services. 7250 Carmel Valley Rd Carmel, CA 93923 (831). Frey's board 'California Bay Area Family Fun & Day/Weekend Trips' on Pinterest. Earthbound Farms, Carmel. Monarch Butterfly Winter. Pumpkin Patch, Western Railway Museum. But things didn’t go quite as planned. Then last summer they built three casitas and opened their farm to the public as Rancho Dos Amantes.“I’m shocked and thrilled with how busy we are,” Clifford says. Every morning Tamara and her daughter, Jessica, prepare a farm breakfast with goat’s milk yogurt, homemade granola, fresh baked bread, honey and jam from her own fruit trees. After breakfast, guests can tour the gardens and the orchard, and visit the beehives, chickens and goats. She says it’s rewarding, yet challenging: “Not only do you have to keep the farm going, but you have to really enjoy having people around all the time.”But that’s not why there aren’t more businesses like hers. Farm stays are hugely popular in other parts of the country and in Europe, where governments provide hefty financial incentives for farmers to open their doors to tourists.“There are lots more farmers and ranchers who would like to have farm stays and camping, but are restricted by some pretty fierce regulations,” says Penny Leff, agritourism coordinator for the UC Cooper ative Extension. Permitting farm stays and farm stands is a top priority.“We see it as a way for farmers to supplement their income and teach people about agriculture,” says Christina Mc. Ginnis, the policy manager who is drawing up the new list for the Monterey County Agriculture Commissioner. Mc. Ginnis hopes to get the new uses approved by the Board of Supervisors by the end of the year. But as we went to press, supervisors were still wrangling over provisions in the yet- to- be- finalized 2. General Plan that would make it easier to provide tourist facilities along the River Road Wine Trail. So in the meantime, those looking to spend the night on a local farm should contact Rancho Dos Amantes, located between Lake San Antonio and Lake Nacimiento near Bradley, or one of the handful of other local farms currently set up for farm stays. In Big Sur, you can stay in a picturesque two- bedroom cottage at Lucky Goat Family Farm, where artist Lygia Chappellet and her husband Carlos Volpini have been making beautiful flower- bedecked goat’s milk cheese for 2. Guests are invited to join in the morning milking, enjoy the ocean views and can arrange for cheese- making classes on request. The famed Big Sur Bakery is just a short walk away. In Carmel Valley, John Russo, the beekeeper and alchemist behind Carmel Lavender Farm rents out an off- the- grid tiny house alongside his fragrant fields and offers classes on such topics as making essential oils, perfumes and artisanal soaps. Near Soledad, Inn at the Pinnacles is set in Jan and Jon Brosseau’s family vineyard and well situated for wine tasting or hiking at the nation’s newest national park. Peaceful cottages at R& G Land and Cattle Co. The working cattle ranch includes 1,2. Oils of Paicines. Owner Barbara Rever—a Salinas kidney specialist—built the cottages and a bunkhouse that sleeps 1. For those looking for a cowpoke experience, there’s the V6 Ranch, which boasts 2. Parkfield. A cowboy academy and activities like cattle drives fill its busy annual calendar. Overnight camping is welcome at Crystal Bay Farm in Watsonville, in between Manresa and Sunset State Beaches, with farm- totable meals available on request. DAY TRIPS“I started out loving farmers’ markets and this is a way to better understand where our food comes from,” says Sally Digges, a member of the Santa Cruz- based Food and Farm Tours Meetup group. On a recent Saturday morning, Digges and about 2. Highway 1 with farmer Jeff Larkey to visit his secluded Rancho del Oso, part of Route 1 Farms. Larkey talked about his “eat local” philosophy, Route 1’s Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program and some of the challenges he faces, like water shortages and pest control. He answered dozens of questions from the curious visitors.“People enjoy being outside and meeting the farmers, seeing what they’re growing and hearing about their issues,” says Penny Ellis, who launched the free monthly tour group about a year ago and is also one of the organizers of the Corralitos Open Farms Tour. In addition to Route 1 Farms, she’s arranged behind- the- scenes visits to Love Apple Farms, Far West Fungi, UCSC Farm, Camp Joy, the Homeless Garden Project, Shumei Farm and Ouroboros aquaponic farm in Half Moon Bay. More than 2. 00 people now belong to the meetup group, although the average tour size is 2. One way to better understand the full scope of Salinas Valley agriculture is to sign up for one of Evan Oakes’ Ag Venture Tours. Oakes was a farm advisor with the UC Cooperative Extension in Salinas and was often called on to guide visiting dignitaries. He thought it was pretty fun and decided to turn it into a business. Now he offers 1. 8 different programs, including agriculture, wine tasting and culinary tours. He walks out into the fields to show visitors how artichokes grow and explains how to prepare them. It’s a self- guided driving tour that takes people by fields, packing houses, coolers and vineyards for wine tasting. While visitors cannot enter most agricultural facilities due to health regulations, the app includes videos that take you inside the production plants. FARM CLASSES AND DINNERSAnother way to get a quick farm fix is by signing up for a class or farmto- fork dinner, which are especially popular in our area during the summer months. Love Apple Farms in the Santa Cruz Mountains offers on- farm classes every weekend, including gardening instruction from owner Cynthia Sandberg. Chefs and other instructors are brought in to teach everything you need to know to run your own homestead, from beekeeping and raising chickens to making sausages, sauerkraut and cheese. Participants are free to stroll the gardens where Sandberg grows dozens of exotic varieties of vegetables exclusively for Manresa restaurant in Los Gatos. Docent- led tours of the farm are also available once a month. The UCSC Farm and Alan Chadwick Garden on the campus above Santa Cruz are always open to visitors, and free guided tours are held on the first Sunday of every month at 2pm. Learning gardening and pruning techniques from the world- class experts on campus—who hold public classes monthly—is a real bonus for those of us living in the Monterey Bay area. In Ben Lomond, former scientist Patricia Davis is reinventing herself after working for 2. She has opened Quail Hollow Kitchens and teaches artisanal food preparation like sourdough breadmaking, canning and preserving and pickling—using 1. Hungarian ancestors. Participants can visit chickens and ducks she raises on her 2. In the northern Big Sur area known as Palo Colorado, Peter Eichorn, whose honey and Meyer lemons are legendary, offers small beekeeping classes at his scenic paradise of organic fruits and vegetables called Country Flat Farm. Farm- to- table dinners provide perhaps the most elegant way to enjoy the pastoral beauty of local farms. Tour the fields at sunset and feast the night away courtesy of talented local chefs and winemakers. Check the dinner schedules of Route 1 Farms, Lonely Mountain Farm, the Homeless Garden Project and Outstanding in the Field. Finally, joining a CSA is probably the best way to ensure you’ll be invited out to the farm. Popular CSAs like High Ground Organics, Live Earth Farm, Morris Grassfed Beef, Homeless Garden Project and Garden Variety Cheese all host special events for members at least once a year. EXPLORE: To keep on top of new farm- based events like dinners, classes and tours as they are announced, go to www. Also see related listings of local farm stay opportunities (p. PICK IT YOURSELF: SUMMER 2. U- PICKSA strawberry u- pick at Crystal Bay Farm. Photo by Patrick Tregenza.“Nothing compares to a field- ripened strawberry, that flavor, that texture!” says Lori Fiorovich, who runs Crystal Bay Farm with her husband Jeff. The best part is that you end up with a load of produce to take home and cook or preserve. Crystal Bay’s u- pick evolved when its farm stand ran out of berries and people asked if they could come in and pick some themselves. It also runs a pumpkin u- pick in the fall that includes 4. Slow Food’s Ark of Taste. Open Sat–Sun 1. 0am–5pm from Sept. Crystal Bay Farm 4. Zils Road, Watsonville – Organic strawberries, red and golden raspberries, tayberries, olallieberries, blackberries, flowers, pumpkins and heirloom squash. Open Wed, Sat–Sun 1. Gizdich Ranch 5. 5 Peckham Road, Watsonville – Strawberries, olallieberries, boysenberries, raspberries, blackberries and apples. Open daily 9am–5pm. Homeless Garden Project 2. Delaware Ave. Santa Cruz – U- pick CSA memberships available for $4. Members pick their own CSA share of fruits, vegetables and flowers every Friday or Saturday from May 2. Oct 3. 0. Live Earth Farm 1. Litchfield Lane, Watsonville – Organic strawberries, Blenheim apricots, dry- farmed tomatoes. Check website for schedule. Serendipity Farms 9. Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley – Organic raspberries. Check Facebook for schedule. Swanton Berry Farm 2. Swanton Road, Davenport – Organic strawberries, olallieberries and blackberries. Open daily 8am–7pm. SUMMER 2. 01. 5 FARM TOURS AND OPEN HOUSESJune 2. Monterey Bay Greenhouse Growers Open House Flower, fruit tree and succulent growers in the Watsonville area throw open the doors to their greenhouses for guided tours, demonstrations and plant sales at discount prices.
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