Two Small Farms History
All four of us came to farming as young adults, one way or another. Andy started first, over 20 years ago, and worked as a farm worker and produce truck driver early on. He eventually was able to start his own farm, Happy Boy Farms, with his then-partner Greg. The Mariquita side of Two Small Farms started as the Happy Boy CSA after an enterprising and smart woman, Wendy Banzaff (Now Wendy Wernigg), approached Andy and Greg and offered to start up a CSA program for their farm. She did a great job and started it up with flying colors. In about 1999 (the dates are already fuzzy in my mind) Greg and Andy decided to split the farm in two: Greg wanted to do only farmers markets, over 25 a week (!) And Andy and I wanted to focus more on the CSA. We liked the rhythm, and the fact that folks directly supported our farm, even if it rained. (If it rains at a farmers market, the product has been grown and harvested, and if it's not sold, the farmer just loses that money.) Mariquita Farm was born, and Greg, Toku, Andy, and I are all still good friends. They laugh at all the work we do to keep the CSA going, we laugh at all the work they and their employees do to execute that many markets per week.
Meanwhile, on the Thomas Farm in Corralitos near Watsonville, Jerry and Jean Thomas had a thriving small organic farm that had been in operation since before Andy was in Jr. High. Their nephew Stephen, decided to give up cooking in San Francisco and learn how to farm so he apprenticed himself to them and helped them out with Corralitos Connection, their CSA they did with 2 other farms: Blue Heron and New Natives. Stephen and Jeanne got married somewhere in there early on, and in 2001 they purchased their own farm on Harkins Slough and took the Corralitos Connection CSA over entirely and named the whole thing High Ground Organics.
Another meanwhile: in 1997 Lydia was born, Steve and Jeanne's first child (yes, Steve married a woman with the same name as his aunt.) Also in 1997, Andy and I got our #2 child, Lena. Jeanne and I met sometime in 1998 at 'Day in the Park' in Watsonville, and became friends as we shared stories of CSA farming life with small children. We had so much in common it bordered on spooky at times. Lena and Lydia remain good friends to this day and will be in the same first grade class this year.
Late in the season in 2001 I approached Jeanne and Stephen to see if they wanted to do our 2 CSAs completely together. Yes, they did, and the 4 of us met several times that winter. Thus Two Small Farms was born in the spring of 2002, and it's been great these last 2 years. The boxes are more balanced with cool and warm weather crops. Jeanne and I share the accounting, newsletter, and other administrative duties, in fact this year we were able to hire Katie, who does lots of the office stuff, while Jeanne does bookkeeping and I work on newsletter and marketing. Steve and Andy complement each others skills too: Steve is great with all things technical, mechanical, and he's a careful farmer. Andy brings over 20 years experience of organic farming, a solid crew that have been with Mariquita for over a decade, and his writing and ''raving'' abilities too.
A photo of the 8 of us at the High Ground field
More on the High Ground story/Open Space Alliance story
10 reasons to buy fresh and buy local
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