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Direct Marketing Blooms at Thomas Farms back to list

by Reggie Knox

A surplus of creativity, a dedi- cated family, and just the right blend of direct markets have allowed Thomas Farm to thrive for 27 years. Jerry Thomas, his wife Jean, their two sons, and their nephew’s family grow an integrated array of flowers, fruits and vegetables in a system designed around local farmers’ markets.

On nine acres of fertile Pajaro Valley floor, just north of Watsonville, they focus on crops uncommon to the area with high local demand—hundreds of species of cut flowers, twenty varieties of peaches and other fruit such as quince and feijoa.

“The only reason we are farming,” said Jerry, “is because of farmers’ markets. Without them, there is no way we could be successful. Small growers are easily edged out of wholesale markets when someone comes in with a lower price, or dumps product, or you are out of a crop for a short period of time. Farmers’ markets provide real consistency and we have adjusted our production schedule to reflect that.”

Trained as educators, Jerry and Jean moved to Santa Cruz County in 1970 and, after a stint picking apples, began teaching. They fell in love with rural Pajaro Valley and soon leased a small apple orchard and home on Pleasant Valley Road. A few years later, at the height of a resurgence in the Pajaro Valley apple industry, they bought the orchard and a neighboring parcel totaling five acres.

They pursued organic production techniques with a handful of other local growers. “The emphasis was not economic,” said Jean, “but holistic.” Jerry participated in Rodale’s organic certification program (pre-California Certified Organic Farmers), and helped to draft the first state organic legislation in 1979.

By the end of the 1970s the couple had leased an additional 30 acres of apples. They began to sell at Live Oak School, the only local farmers’ market. Within a few years, the apple market fell, and Jerry and Jean let the leased apple land go and started experimen- ting with flowers, peaches, and other kinds of fruit.

Today, 65% of their sales come from fresh cut flowers, including hundreds of species of bulbs, which are marketed through brokers, at farmers’ markets, and for special events.

Last year the weekly schedule included five local farmers’ markets—Aptos, Redwood City, Felton, Monterey, and Santa Cruz. This year they will attend two new markets in Rio Del Mar and Watsonville and will lease four additional acres to bring into production this fall.

After the apple crash of the seventies, the Thomases experimented with fruit not commonly grown on the Central Coast. Market saturation, competition from Washington state, “and the lack of a local effort to market coopera- tively,” had forced apple prices way down. “We found that people didn’t hesitate to pay a good price for well grown peaches—two to four times what apples were going for.”

Community Supported Agriculture

To complement the farmers’ markets, four years ago the Thomases and two neighboring growers began a cooperatively run CSA (Community Supported Agriculture project). They called it the Corralitos Connection. One farm provided organic greens and vegetables, another sprouts, and Thomas Farm supplied the fruit and flowers. The 60-member CSA is now run solely by Thomas Farm and managed by Jerry’s nephew, Stephen Pedersen, and his wife, Jeanne Byrne.

Stephen started as an intern three years ago and now grows the cooler climate greens on four acres in La Selva Beach, a half-mile from the ocean. Jeanne coordinates the 60-member CSA, the bookkeeping, and the couple’s one-year-old baby.

“The CSA was a natural outgrowth of the farmers’ markets,” said Jerry. “It requires the same diverse mix of produce and we do drop-offs for the CSA on the way to market. Our whole system is set up to never have a large amount of any one thing at the same time. The produce in the CSA box changes every week and so does the farmers’ market produce.”

Organic alfalfa, pea, and bean sprouts are still purchased from New Natives as a regular component of the CSA baskets, and occasionally other produce from neighboring growers.

“Our CSA involves more of the farm community by providing markets for farmers who don’t have CSAs,” said Jerry. A 10-week share is $160, and an annual share for May through December is $448. Brochures promoting the CSA are handed out at the farmers’ markets.

Community-Minded People

Jerry and Jean are leaders in local politics and with the CAFF Central Coast Chapter. “Keeping the land in a productive cycle for future generations is critical,” said Jerry. “This means working to reduce or eliminate urban sprawl, establish agricultural zones, and protect water resources.”

Jerry has served as a County Farm Bureau director and as a member of the County Agricultural Policy Advisory Committee for many years. He sits on the Monterey Bay Certified Farmers’ Market board of directors.

Jean helps with the CSA, does deliveries and picks up the sprouts. She also teaches writing, science and math adult education. An artist specializing in watercolors and monoprinting from her art studio on the farm, Jean serves on the Central Water District Board and the Pajaro Valley Arts Council.

Both represent CAFF as members of the Campaign to Save Pajaro Valley Farmlands and Wetlands. This coalition of agricultural, environmental and human rights groups promotes farmland protection and sustainable development. The Campaign also advocates education and training opportunities, and good living and working conditions for local residents.

“What is exciting,” said Jean, “is looking at the future possibilities. We are laying the groundwork for larger regional changes and coalition building, drawing people together who didn’t know they had similar thoughts and ideas. CAFF has played a huge role in this.”

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