Welcome to Pleasant Valley Farms
From our family to yours – we wanted to say “Hello!” and welcome you to the world of farming! Our journey started back in the summer of 2017, when fate brought us to this beautiful valley in Aptos, California. Boy, oh boy, what a learning curve it has been! After 21 years in our mountain home nestled in the redwoods of the Santa Cruz Mountains, we decided a change was in order. So, we journeyed south for the coastal community of Day Valley with hopes of escaping the traffic of Silicon Valley, and to embrace living a slower-paced lifestyle.
From the moment we unpacked the moving vans, life has been a continuous learning adventure filled with many highs, lows, and everything in between. It didn’t take long for us to figure out that farming is a serious business and not for the lazy, or faint of heart. We traded in our Salvador Ferragamo leather shoes, and Jimmy Choo strap heals for rubber boots, leather gloves, and shade hats and went to work repairing, upgrading, and creating. Who would have thought that weather.com would become more important than Waze? With the help of an incredible family, great friends, expert consultants, and YouTube, of course, we’ve survived and thrived.
We have had to learn everything from driving tractors, to setting up rodent traps (we’re talking 40 at a time), installing owl and bluebird boxes, to planting road rescue, building irrigation sheds, and compost bins. We also manage our 375 plus olive trees and have planted a 10-acre vineyard. These projects and many more have kept us busy from “sunrise to sundown.” At the end of the day, we’re tired, but it’s a different kind of weariness, one that is blended with a sense of serenity and accomplishment.
Thomas Jefferson summed it nicely with these wise words; “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will, in the end, contribute most to real wealth, good morals and true happiness.”
We look forward to continuing our journey and sharing some of our farming adventures along the way!
We’ll start by introducing a few vital members of the farm.
Some of our vital members shown above from left to right, goat friends, ranch dogs, and mini horses.
