Fun Facts about our Farm

Acres Farmed

200 acres total.  150 acres of vegetable fields and 50 acres of fruit and nut orchards.  95% of our acreage is Certified Organic, with the remainder in transition to organic.

Crops Grown

We grow a dozen types of fruit including apricots, figs, grapefruit, lemons, mandarins, melons, Navel oranges, peaches, persimmons, pistachios, nectarines, strawberries, table grapes, and watermelon.

We grow at least twenty different types of vegetables including asparagus, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, chard, cucumbers, fennel, garlic, green beans, leeks, lettuce, onions, peas, peppers, spinach, tomatoes and zucchini.

Distance to our customers

98% of our crops are sold and delivered to customers in the Bay or Sacramento Areas.  Our farm is 75 miles from the Bay Bridge and 30 miles from downtown Sacramento.  For customers in those areas, Terra Firma’s produce has one of the lowest carbon footprints of any farm for delivery.

Employees

45 Full-time.  Our farm is a major employer in our small hometown of Winters, population 7,000.

Water

We get an average of 18 inches of rainfall a year, which is generally enough to irrigate all of our winter crops from November through April while also keeping groundwater levels in our area stable and sustainable.

During the dry season, most of our irrigation water comes from nearby Lake Berryessa, a regional reservoir that has never restricted deliveries to farmers or urban customers since it was completed in 1970.  It is one of the most sustainable water supplies in California.

Ownership

Terra Firma is owned by three families.  Paul Holmes (now retired), his wife Jean Witzman, and their son Walker;  Hector Melendez, his wife Elena, their son Hector Jr. and daughter Karen (Hector, Elena and Hector Jr. all work at the farm); and Paul Underhill and Marisa Alcorta.