Conservation for existing farming, rather than frogs, snakes, etc.

San Mateo County Times/Aaron Kinney, 3/14/14.  "Peninsula Open Space Trust sells land to longtime Half Moon Bay farming family." Note:  the following article also appears in the Coastal Connections, June 2014 newspaper. And the farm is located in Moss Beach.

Cabrillo Farms, Moss Beach, a family business

"HALF MOON BAY -- The Lea family has worked the fertile soil of the San Mateo County coast for nearly a century, but the farming clan had never owned any land -- until now.  Peninsula Open Space Trust announced this week that it has sold the 295-acre Cabrillo Farms across from Half Moon Bay Airport to the Leas for $1.2 million. The trust will maintain a conservation easement over the property as part of the deal, which was finalized last month.  For the Leas, the purchase brings security and autonomy, while the trust sees the arrangement as a way to preserve the Coastside's agricultural heritage.

Quality produce, grown locally

The conservation group, which has preserved more than 70,000 acres for open space and parks since its founding in 1977, has made similar deals with farmers in the past. In 1998 it sold a 534-acre farm south of Half Moon Bay to John Giusti and in 2007 it sold 500 acres near Pescadero to Joe Muzzi. The trust retains easements on both properties. "People interact with the land in many different ways," said Moore. "We're going to lose support for conserving land for parks and open space if we don't protect the other values that people bring to their use and enjoyment of the land. One key value is where their food comes from."   Read article.  Article includes 5 slides, and some short videos. 

Reference POST - Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) news, 3/18/14. "POST transfers 295-acre Cabrillo Farms to thrid-generation farming family. Coastside land sale secures historic agricultural legacy."  'Cabrillo Farms was part of the Rancho Corral de Tierra property POST acquired in 2001. POST transferred 3,858 acres of Rancho Corral de Tierra to the National Park Service in 2011 to be incorporated into the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. Approximately 320 acres were held back by POST for agricultural use. As a condition of the sale to the Leas, POST holds a conservation easement on the Cabrillo Farms land. The property is six miles north of Half Moon Bay, directly across from the Half Moon Bay airport. The bulk of the farmland is along Highway 1, and considered to be one of the most productive agricultural tracts in California. The farm also includes a parcel further east of Highway 1, in a small valley at the base of Montara Mountain. Many acres on the property have been in active agricultural production for more than 130 years."

Reference Cabrillo Farms, Inc., Moss Beach.   Find us locally/about.  "Cabrillo Farms Inc is predominantly engaged in General Farms Primarily Crop. Cabrillo Farms Inc operates in Moss Be ach. ..."  Related - Palo Alto Farmers Market.  "Shirley Lea is the third generation of Cabrillos to work the family farm in Half Moon Bay. Her grandfather, father, and brother have all been part of the family business. Shirley says Jose Contreras (another PAFM vendor) told her grandfather about the Palo Alto Farmers’ Market, and so Cabrillo Farms began selling at the Market over 20 years ago. According to Shirley, her grandfather brought her into the business, “to keep me out of trouble.” 

Reference, the Family story- video, You Tube, 5/2/14, 6:48 minutes. "POST transfers Cabrillo Farms to third-generation farming family." "Cabrillo Farms was part of the Rancho Corral de Tierra property POST acquired in 2001."   

Note photographs are from the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST) website.  The field is from a Cabrillo Farms article, the family picture is currently under the category "donate". 

Posted by Kathy Meeh