Open Farm Tours 2026
Open Farm Tours 2026
Sunday, October 11 | 10am to 4pm | Santa Cruz Permaculture Farm, Pescadero
Once a year the farms of this region open their gates to anyone who wants to walk in and see how food actually gets grown. We are one of the North County stops on this year’s Open Farm Tours, and we would love to have you out.
We do not open the farm to the public very often, so this is a real chance to see the whole operation up close. Come walk the fields with us, ask the questions you have always wanted to ask a farmer, and spend a day on the coast in the best month of the year.
Guided tours at 10am, 12pm and 2pm
I will lead three guided walking tours through the day. Each runs about an hour and covers the full farm with plenty of room for questions. In between tours you are welcome to wander the marked areas at your own pace and take your time out here.
What you will see
We farm 26.5 acres overlooking the Pacific near Año Nuevo State Beach, between Davenport and Pescadero, certified by both CCOF and the Real Organic Project. On the tour you will get into the parts of the farm most visitors never see:
- The water retention landscape. We are reshaping this ground to hold water instead of shedding it. This is the kind of work that changes what a piece of land can do for decades, and seeing it in progress is rare.
- The willow field. A striking thing to stand inside, and the source of the material we use for basketry and living structures.
- The food forest orchard going in now. We will walk the site and talk through the design, how perennial fruit, nitrogen fixers and understory plantings get stacked into one system that feeds itself.
- The winter squash field coming into harvest, and why some varieties eat well straight from the field while others need weeks of curing first.
- Our new one acre goldenberry block, a fruit most people have never tasted, plus the kiwis, blackberries and other perennial fruit coming along.
- Where the herb and flower programs are headed. We are expanding both significantly, and I will show you the ground going into them.
- The flower rows and the late season vegetables still coming off, including peppers and tomatoes winding down from their September peak.
Take something home
Our farm stand will be open all day with whatever we are harvesting that week, plus everything we make from it. Our hot sauces, including cayenne and fire roasted green. Red salsa and salsa verde. Tomato sauce, smokin padron pate, smoky sweet pepper jelly, pickled sweet peppers, and dried chipotles. Strawberry jam. Fresh cut flowers, and willow cuttings if you want to grow your own.
Everything on that table starts in these fields, and it is all made by us.
One thing we will not have yet: our hoshigaki. It is the traditional hand massaged dried persimmon we make every winter, and it is probably what we are best known for. It comes ready around Thanksgiving and sells out. You can place a pre-order so yours is set aside the moment they are ready, and I am happy to walk you through it at the stand.
Cash and card both work.
Join us beyond one day
The tour is a good introduction, but the farm is really built around the people who stay connected to it.
CSA farm boxes. This is the most direct way to eat from this farm all year. Our boxes are fully customizable and pay as you go, so you build your own from whatever we are harvesting that week rather than taking whatever we decide to send you. No big payment up front, no box of things you did not want. Ask me about it while you are here or sign up at the farm stand.
Find us at the markets. Downtown Santa Cruz on Wednesdays, Westside Santa Cruz and San Mateo on Saturdays, Live Oak and De Anza on Sundays.
Courses. I have taught permaculture since 2004 and we run classes here year round. Our Permaculture Design Course is the deep dive, a full grounding in how to read a landscape and design a system that works with it. Permaculture Food Forests goes straight at the thing you will have just walked through with me, how to design and establish a forest that feeds you. And Herbalism and Medicine Making works with the plants growing right here. Come find me on the tour and I will tell you which one fits what you are after.
Rent the farm. People host family gatherings, workshops, weddings, and corporate retreats out here. If a day on this land makes you think about bringing your own people to it, let’s talk.
Everything else we have coming up. Classes, workshops, and events through the season.
Newsletter. Twice a month with what is happening on the farm, upcoming classes, and regional permaculture news.
Know before you go
Tickets: Buy through Open Farm Tours. The Friends and Family Pass is $25 per carload for up to five people and gets you into every participating farm all weekend. Our farm profile is here.
Where: Our farm is at the northern gate of 640 Cabrillo Highway, Pescadero, CA 94060. Look for our signs off Highway 1.
What to bring: Closed toe shoes, a hat, water, and layers. It is a working farm, so expect uneven ground and dust or mud depending on the week. Coastal weather in October can go from fog to full sun in an hour. A cooler is smart if you are buying produce.
Restrooms: We have a portable restroom on site with hand washing.
Dogs: Please leave them at home. We run a certified organic operation and cannot have dogs in the growing areas.
Kids: Absolutely welcome. There is a lot here for them to touch, smell, and taste.
Hope to see you October 11.
Farmer Dave Santa Cruz Permaculture