Terra Firma Farm is a 200-acre CCOF-certified organic farm in Winters, California, that has been growing vegetables and fruit year-round for over 30 years. 
Terra Firma Farm is a 200-acre CCOF-certified organic farm in Winters, California, that has been growing vegetables and fruit year-round for over 30 years. 

Our farm is as much about people as it is about produce. Our farm supports dozens of employees, some of whom have been with us since the beginning. They have been instrumental in making our farm what it is today.

We have been producing high-quality organic fruit and vegetables for our Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program for nearly 25 years, and currently serve the San Francisco Bay Area, Davis, Sacramento, Vacaville, Benicia and our hometown of Winters. Our CSA members help to ensure the success of our business, and provide motivation for us to keep growing delicious, vibrant produce. Many of our subscribers have been with us since the beginning of the CSA; their kids have been raised eating our fruits and vegetables.

You can also find our produce at retail outlets like Rainbow GroceryBiRite MarketDavis Food Co-opSacramento Natural Foods Co-opNugget Markets, online at Good Eggs, and on the menus of restaurants such as Chez PanisseTerzoQuince, and Zuni Café. If you are interested in becoming a wholesale customer, please contact us at sales@terrafirmafarm.com.

We currently provide food for about 1200 subscriber households farming around 150 acres of vegetables and 50 acres combined of fruit and nut orchards.

OUR HISTORY

The seeds for Terra Firma Farm were planted in the late 1980s when Paul Holmes began farming a few acres in the hills west of Winters with a few friends under the name Sky High Farm. Paul developed a following for his garlic, tomatoes, and other vegetables as one of the founding members of both the Davis Farmers Market and Berkeley Farmers Market. Sky High Farm was also one of the original members of California Certified Organic Farmers, prior to official state and federal recognition of organics.

Terra Firma started its CSA in 1994 with a few dozen acquaintances at a single drop site in San Francisco’s Mission District (Capp Street). As word spread and the CSA slowly grew to include other sites in the City, the East Bay, and Sacramento. The farm grew as well. We rented additional fields for growing vegetables and leased small neglected or abandoned fruit orchards to augment the vegetables. We currently provide food for about 800 subscriber households farming around 150 acres of vegetables and 50 acres combined of fruit and nut orchards.

Before he became a partner in Terra Firma, Hector became one of its landlords when he and his family purchased 25 acres of land we were already farming, in 1999. In 2003, with the critical help of CSA subscribers, Paul and Pablito were able to finally purchase 80 acres of land. With the addition of Hector to the ownership team in 2005, Terra Firma has secure tenure on fully half the total land we farm.

Like the households of many of our subscribers, Terra Firma is a non-traditional version of a “family farm”. Nonetheless, Hector’s mother wife, Elena, and son Hector Jr., work in critical positions on the farm.

OUR FARMLAND

Terra Firma is located in beautiful Winters, CA, one of the oldest fruit and vegetable-growing regions in Northern California. Because of its high annual rainfall, rich soils, mild weather, year-round creek, and location just about 70 miles from San Francisco, Winters has provided urbanites in the Bay Area with fresh produce for over 100 years.

We farm a number of sites along the north and south banks of Putah Creek, totaling about 200 acres. Microclimates and different soil types allow us to produce almost 100 different crops each year, including spring, summer and winter vegetables as well as stone fruit, citrus and nuts (pistachios and walnuts). We have two distinct seasons here: dry and hot from May-October, and cool and wet from November-April. There are very few crops we can’t grow in Winters for at least part of the year, and the majority of the items in our boxes every week come from our own fields and orchards.

We are blessed with a reliable, clean, and sustainable water supply. The Blue Ridge Mountains to the west of Winters are the watershed for Lake Berryessa, the source of water for the Solano Irrigation District (SID) canal that supplies much of our irrigation water as well as drinking water for the cities of Fairfield and Vacaville. Since the Monticello Dam was built in the 1960s, SID has never run out of water. The lake is also the source of Putah Creek, which irrigates our fields located along its banks, and recharges our groundwater wells.

There are very few crops we can’t grow in Winters for at least part of the year, and the majority of the items in our boxes every week come from our own fields and orchards.

OUR COMMITMENT

Our farming practices do not just follow the letter of the National Organic Program law or the minimum standards set by our organic certifier, CCOF. Rather, in the spirit of the organic farming movement, we continually strive to practice ecologically sustainable agriculture that protects and builds the soil, provides habitat for wildlife, conserves energy and water, and produces healthier, more nutritious fruits and vegetables.

Terra Firma also has a commitment to providing sustainable employment and encouraging local economic development. We provide full-time, year-round employment for our workers. We employ roughly ten times as many people per acre as most farms in our region. By selling, packing, and delivering our products ourselves (adding value) we are able to offer a range of jobs that allow employees to move vertically as their careers progress.

OUR COMMITMENT

Our farming practices do not just follow the letter of the National Organic Program law or the minimum standards set by our organic certifier, CCOF. Rather, in the spirit of the organic farming movement, we continually strive to practice ecologically sustainable agriculture that protects and builds the soil, provides habitat for wildlife, conserves energy and water, and produces healthier, more nutritious fruits and vegetables.

Terra Firma also has a commitment to providing sustainable employment and encouraging local economic development. We provide full-time, year-round employment for our workers. We employ roughly ten times as many people per acre as most farms in our region. By selling, packing, and delivering our products ourselves (adding value) we are able to offer a range of jobs that allow employees to move vertically as their careers progress.