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COKE FARM
Owners: Dale + Christine Coke
Location Coke Farm is located in coastal Northern California, spread over four locations throughout San Benito County about 100 miles south of Palo Alto. Coke Farm's produce can be found in local markets, restaurants, and specialty stores throughout North America. At the Palo Alto market, we might see owners Dale and Christine Coke, or their children – Lorraine and Alyssa Coke and Jamille and Oliver Griss. History In 1981 founder Dale Coke was searching for something meaningful to do that would prove more challenging. Dale planted his first rows of organic strawberries in the fall of 1981 on a small plot of land in Aromas, California. When the plants produced successfully, and a local natural foods store became the first Coke Farm customer, Dale planted more crops and joined the Santa Cruz chapter of C.C.O.F. (California Certified Organic Farmers). Within a year Coke Farm was "discovered" by a chef at Chez Panisse who expressed interest in the strawberries, snow peas, and squash. Coke Farm expanded its varieties and continued to sell organic produce to local stores, eventually expanding their customer base into the San Francisco Bay Area. They began selling at the Palo Alto market in 1988. Within a couple years, sparked by growing demand, Coke Farm started growing specialty and baby lettuces for restaurants in the Bay Area. When faced with an abundance of leftover lettuces in the field, Dale experimented with mixing several varieties together and creating "spring mix". Large-scale wholesalers took an interest and began buying the spring mix for high end restaurants in cities on the East and West Coasts. This mix quickly gained popularity among Coke Farm's customers and created a demand for a larger-scale production. In 1985 Coke Farm more than tripled in size when 33 acres were acquired adjacent to the existing 10. Four years later Coke Farm had grown to a 200+ acre farm, harvesting over fifty crop varieties each year and shipping daily out of a cooler on site in San Juan Bautista. In addition to growing and shipping their own produce, Coke Farm also cools, stores, and ships for several local organic farms. Products Strawberries remain Coke Farm’s biggest seller. They also produce lettuces, bunched greens (chard, kale, beets, carrots, etc), roots (parsley root, burdock, celeriac, sunchokes, etc.), herbs (rosemary, sage, cilantro, parsley, basil, thyme, mint, chives, , etc.) and a variety of other fruits and vegetables (beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, lemons, grapefruit, avocado, apricots, pecans, apples, radishes, squash, onions, shallots, potatoes). Selling at the Palo Alto Farmers’ Market Christine says “Organic is important to our customers and us. We always have a good variety of things, and we usually have something people don’t know about. So we give a lot of cooking tips and information about new products. We always have recipe handouts for our customers, and hope this inspires them to try something new.” She adds, “We feel privileged to know so many people at this market. The first day at market in May is like a family reunion. The incredible feedback and generosity of people is what brings us back year after year.” |
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