Tenant Farming

It is becoming increasingly difficult for small-scale farmers in California to begin or continue farming because of barriers to accessing land, water, markets, and training. City Farm SLO provides affordable land leases and supportive services in our tenant farming program.

Thirteen acres are currently leased to our tenant farmers. In 2022-2023, our tenant farmers produced over 115,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for our local food system.

Benefits to Tenant Farming

Benefits to leasing farmland from within the City Farm SLO include:

Prime farmland, cover-cropped and row-cropped for at least the last five years
Reliable water supply: an agricultural well and pump with 300 GPM, 80 PSI capacity, with high flow and low flow irrigation systems
Easy access from Highway 101
Public recognition through City Farm's outreach, marketing and programming efforts
Collaborative environment/network of tenant farmers at City Farm SLO

Meet our Tenant Farmers

Meet the tenant farmers who make up the collective of small, independent organic farmers on City Farm SLO’s 19-acre parcel. The close proximity and cooperative spirit at City Farm SLO foster Farmer-to-Farmer mentoring and collaboration, with farmers sharing best practices, technical assistance, and market opportunities.

MG Farms

Francisco Martinon, @mg_farms

MG Farms is owned and operated by Farmer Francisco Martinon. Frank provides wholesome, organic vegetables to local school districts, SLO Veg, and local farmers' markets. He grows a huge variety of crops including squash, broccoli, cauliflower, lettuces, tomatoes, leeks, beans, berries, herbs, and so much more!

Blosser Urban Garden

Jerry Mahoney, @blosserurbangarden

blosserurbangarden.com

Subtenant Blosser Urban Garden is a small-scale certified organic farm in Santa Maria operating since 1996, with a CSA of over 250 members and a farmstand on Blosser Road. It’s owned and operated by Jerry and Alejandra Mahoney. Jerry worked for eleven years as the Cal Poly organic farm manager, teaching future farmers the importance of sustainable organic farming practices.

Aviator Acres Family Farm

Nathan Ecret

Farmer Nathan Ecret has been farming for over 28 years. Growing up in a farming community, Nathan has been involved in farming a variety of crops over the years. Farmer Nathan is now retired and working harder than ever for family and community, growing healthy, fresh vegetables for the home cook or farm to table chef.

Monarch Hills Education

Erin Stehli and Hali Anaya

www.monarchhills.org

Monarch Hills Education is a child inspired, nature based enrichment program for students TK-6th grade.

Our Global Family Farm

Tree Lees

ourglobalfamilyfarm.com

Teresa "Tree" Lees promotes global unity and permaculture through regenerative agriculture techniques.

Cyrus Bany

Tenant Farmer

Bio coming soon.

🌱 Today marked the first day of 2024-2025 Therapeutic Horticulture with SLO High’s Special Day Class! Students jumped right in—harvesting lettuce for our sheep, starting seeds to grow back in their classroom, sipping herbal tea, and tasting heirloom tomatoes 🍅. They also helped water the Garden for All! We’re thrilled to see both new and familiar faces on the farm🌻

#CityFarmSLO #TherapeuticHorticulture #GrowingTogether #GardenForAll

Last week, we said goodbye to one of our interns, Katie Kelly!

Katie has been with City Farm as part of her FIELD Fellowship with @farmlinkproject this summer. She has been an amazing asset to the farm, bringing her pest management knowledge, hard work, and passion daily.

Thank you Katie, for everything you did this summer, and good luck in your final year of studies at Cal Poly!

Thank you Cal Poly Strawberry Center 🍓 @calpolystrawberrycenter for providing all three of our YEP cohorts with educational tours of the center, entomology lab activities, and the opportunity to harvest fresh clamshells for their families. Our students enjoyed learning about the latest research going on and upcoming projects. Our YEP participants were exposed to new career paths and got to speak with professionals in unique agricultural fields.

All three YEP cohorts noted in their post-evaluation that exploring the Strawberry Center was one of their most memorable program experiences. Thank you so much for sharing these opportunities with our students! Your support is “berry” appreciated! 🍓

#yep #youthempowerment #strawberrycenter #calpoly #youngfarmers

We can’t wait to kick off our 2024-2025 Farm Field Trips! 🎉 Kindergarten through 5th graders visit the farm to explore plant parts, pollination, soil science, and nutrition in a hands-on, tangible way. From tasting fresh veggies to meeting our animals, students are rotating through interactive stations and learning where food comes from! 🐓

Farm Field Trips plant a seed for the next generation to become scientists, environmentalists, sustainable farmers, and change-makers! 🌍✨

#FarmFieldTrips #RegenerativeFarming #FutureFarmers

We’re thrilled to welcome our new cohort of Pacific Beach High School Farming Interns, who started their journey on the farm with us today! Over the next 10 weeks, they’ll be diving into regenerative agriculture and building essential workplace skills—we can’t wait to see them grow! 🌱

#FarmingInterns #RegenerativeAgriculture #cityfarmslo

Chef Kenny from @sloprovisions is here today for their weekly vegetable pickup! Get City Farm SLO tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and peppers in the delicious creations at SLO Provisions! 🫑 🍅 🧑‍🍳

#supportlocalfarms #regenerativeagriculture #farmtotable

And just like that, we wrapped up YEP Summer 2024 with a total of 35 graduates! Our Youth Empowerment Program participants completed daily workshops to build career and college readiness skills. Students prepared for future interviews, practiced public speaking skills, created SMART goals, learned about financial literacy and budgeting, and exercised communication skills. A participant from YEP Cohort 12 noted in their post-evaluation, “My favorite part about YEP is the people that are so supportive and welcoming and I have to say this experience has made me more social and being here has made me feel more open and comfortable. I loved being outside of the house, I got to take my mind off things.”
🌱
YEP students spent their summer days outdoors, physically working and learning about regenerative agriculture, growing and harvesting their own meals, and learning to fuel their bodies in a healthy and sustainable way. Through activities such as tending to our compost systems and worm bins, caring for our sheep and chickens, harvesting produce for the food bank, collecting field data on beneficial insects, and practicing mindfulness through nature journaling, YEP participants were able to explore our natural ecosystems and become more connected to their food systems.
🥕
A huge thank you to our YEP Facilitators, YEP Interns, and partners including the Cal Poly Strawberry Center & Entomology Labs @calpolystrawberrycenter, Transitions Mental Health Association @tmha_slo, guest speakers, and transportation volunteers. We couldn’t have done this program without you all! We are eagerly preparing for YEP Summer 2025!
👩‍🌾
#farmbased #youthempowerment #farming #teens #lifeskills

Last week, we celebrated Alyssa’s birthday and her last day as our City Farm SLO VIP (aka MVP 💪)!!! 🎉😭

We are so grateful for Alyssa’s incredible work as our AmeriCorps Volunteer Programs Coordinator. She became a skilled regenerative farmer and shared her expertise with our volunteers, College Corps Fellows, and students. We will miss her dearly and are so excited for her on her next adventures. Thank you, Alyssa! 🌱💚

#americorpsvip #AmeriCorps #thankyou
@hahahalyssaa

Hey EWE! Do you have plans this Saturday morning?

Join us for a volunteer day on the farm! It’s the height of our growing season, and our crops need a lot of love! From 9 am - Noon, we will give our olive trees some TLC, harvest zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes, and more. Bring a bag with you to take some harvest home 🍅

New volunteers can register on our website: cityfarmslo.org/volunteers

Can’t wait to see EWE on the farm!

#volunteerslo #regenerativeagriculture #farmfun #sanluisobispo #805

YEP Cohort 12 🌟

Students are continuing to amaze our team with their hardwork and desire to learn. Thanks for showing up to the farm each day ready to get dirty! 👩‍🌾

#herbspiral #youthempowerment #curiosity #youngfarmers #summer #yep #farmwork

🚨 New Neighbor Alert‼️

San Luis Ranch Market is now open & featuring City Farm SLO’s produce! You can now buy local produce every day of the week!

🥕 🍅 🥬

We are so excited to partner with SLO Ranch Market and provide weekly deliveries of seasonal produce to our community. Our regenerative produce is grown a mile from the marketplace; check out our delivery system in the electric Polaris! 🚜

@sloranchfarms @sloranchmarket

#localproduce #newneighbor #sloranchfarmsmarketplace #farmtotable

Listen to what this happy couple said about their farm tour!

"We booked a private tour of City Farm SLO as part of our honeymoon up the California Coast. It was an amazing experience with equal parts education and fun! We would recommend it to anyone who finds themselves in San Luis Obispo. Thank you so much to the staff for their time and passionate dedication to their craft!"

Book yours today: www.cityfarmslo.org/tour

Here's what folks are saying about the City Farm SLO Tour!

"My 3 year old son was heavily involved and catered to. He was made to feel and be an integral part of everything and he had such a great time. We loved watching him have so much fun. Also, learning about the unique capacities of this urban farm and the optimistic future for regenerative agriculture was great."

"We would recommend this to anyone in the area."

Book today: www.cityfarmslo.org/tour

Check out Cohort 11 YEP Graduates! 🎓

In the last two weeks of programming this crew:
🥕Harvested over 800 pounds of produce for the SLO Food Bank.
🐞 Researched & collected data about pests on the farm to investigate the different species of beneficial insects present.
📝Connected to the life on the farm by nature journaling and observing the natural ecosystems.
🌀Finished up the herb spiral and started seedlings.
✏️ Completed resumes, practiced public speaking skills, and prepped for future interviews.

Thanks Cohort 11 for your curiosity, work ethic, and enthusiasm on the farm!

#yepcohort11 #youthempowerment #farmeducation #outdoorsforall #farmlife

💡Highlights from Week 1 YEP Cohort 11!

15 YEP participants helped harvest over 300 pounds of produce for the SLO Food Bank! Students learned how to harvest beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, and zucchinis. Participants got their hands dirty and learned many agricultural skills including weed abatement, how to string tomatoes, washing and processing produce, and sustainable pest management techniques. Students completed 4 workshops focusing on SMART goals, financial literacy, and time management.

Last Wednesday, Cohort 11 explored Cal Poly SLO and toured the Cal Poly Strawberry Center @calpolystrawberrycenter. Did you know that 90% of our country’s strawberries come from California!? Students got to learn about the field research going on and harvest their own delicious strawberries 🍓! Participants then got to conduct research in the entomology lab and learn about ongoing pest management strategies.

We cranked up the pizza oven and celebrated the first week with farm fresh veggie pizzas! 🍕

Thanks for your hard work YEP Cohort 11!

#youthempowerment #farmwork #research #harvesting #nextgenfarmers

🌟 Introducing our Summer 2024 YEP Interns!! 🌟

Hi my name is Chloe I’m a student at Arroyo Grande High School. This is my second year working as an intern for YEP! I really enjoy working alongside students who are inspired by agriculture. Some of my favorite intern tasks include helping participants harvest and prepare meals, demonstrating farming techniques, pulling weeds, and educating students on bed flips. I’m excited and happy to be back for summer 2024!

👩‍🌾 🌱

Hi, my name is Wolf and I’m an upcoming junior in high school. I lived in Los Angeles until I was 14 years old. I motivated my Mom to move out of the big city and we landed in San Luis Obispo. I wanted to have a small town lifestyle and be more connected to the natural world. I love being a YEP intern because I get to learn about regenerative agriculture, and I get to connect with the YEP students.

🍅 🥕

A HUGE thank you to Chloe & Wolf who show up early everyday ready to work and are great role models for our YEP participants. Chloe and Wolf help lead all farming activities, workshops, and assist the participants with harvesting and preparing meals every day. We couldn’t do this program without you both!
Thank you for your leadership skills and dedication to our Youth Empowerment Program! 💛

#internship #youthempowerment #farmbasededucation

📣 Volunteer Shout Out!! 📣

Meet Robert! Almost every Saturday, Robert commutes from Monterey (2 hours each way!!) to volunteer with us. He is a tireless weed-puller, energetic mulch-mover, and he tackles any project we offer with a smile on his face!

Thank you for all the time and energy that you have invested at City Farm, Robert! We are fortunate to work with you🌱

#volunteerslo #grateful #regenerativeagriculture

Due to the overwhelming number of YEP applications this year, our team found additional private funding to sponsor 6 more spaces in our Summer 2024 programming. We have filled all spaces and are excited to graduate 41 students in Cohorts 10, 11, and 12 this summer.

We wrapped up YEP Cohort 10 with a post- evaluation survey: 91% of our graduates responded that they “experienced positive changes in [their] mood, stress-levels, and overall well being” as a result of the YEP program.

One graduate wrote, “I learned how to speak up more, this place really made me realize that not everyone is out to get me. I’m a lot less anxious when speaking to others.”

“I liked getting my hands dirty, making new friends and having something to do during the summer.” -A YEP Cohort 10 participant

100% of our participants responded that they “learned new information about career opportunities/ choices available to them.”

We are grateful for the opportunity to make this program available to additional participants this summer! ☀️ 👩‍🌾

#yep2024 #youthempowerment #farmbased #studentsinag #outdoorsforall #sustainableag

🌱🌞 **Summer Learning at City Farm SLO!** 🌞🌱

This summer, learn about regenerative farming! Our tours offer a fun and educational experience, perfect for all ages. Enjoy fresh produce tastings and hands-on farm projects.

🗓️ Tours: Mon, Wed, Sat
⏰ Times: 10-11:30 AM or 1-2:30 PM
💵 Cost: $125 for 1-5 guests, $10 each extra

Join us this summer!
📧 info@cityfarmslo.org
👉 cityfarmslo.org/tour

#CityFarmSLO #SummerLearning #RegenerativeAgriculture 🌿✨

As a lifelong Los Osos local Emily Rose has a strong connection to the native land here on the central coast. She is passionate about permaculture, ecosystem restoration, education and food as medicine. Emily Rose graduated from The University of California Santa Cruz in 2022 with a Bachelor's degree in politics with a concentration in systems change and regenerative farming. During her undergraduate she worked on the UCSC 30 acre produce farm as well as the Alan Chadwick garden where they focus on “french-intensive biodynamic” small scale gardening. Emily Rose will be co-leading the Youth Empowerment Program for the summer of 2024! She is excited to help our community's youth engage with the farm and help them hone their life skills! In her free time Emily Rose tends to her home urban garden, hikes the beautiful central coast, surfs and dances with Revive dance company.
#cityfarmslo #shoutout #Spotlight #folksonthefarm #OrganicFarming #regenerativeag

We kicked off summer with YEP Cohort 10! 🌟

Our YEP graduates completed 8 career & college readiness workshops centered around:
🎯Setting SMART Goals
💰Budgeting & Financial Literacy
🧘Self care & wellness
📄Building resumes and interview prep
🎤Public speaking
🎓College & career exploration
🥕Agroecological knowledge

Thank you to the Cal Poly Strawberry Center @calpolystrawberrycenter for the educational tour, entomology lab exploration, and harvesting opportunities. Also, thank you to Transitions Mental Health @tmha_slo for the incredible presentation & workshop for our participants!

YEP Cohort 10 completed their herb spiral, harvested zucchinis, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, lettuce, and cucumbers daily, planted beans, squash, native wildlife, tended to our compost systems, and helped with livestock care and wellbeing. YEP participants toured Cal Poly, SLO and got to experience campus life. Students learned about different higher educational opportunities and career paths by discussing majors, minors, and specialties that are available to them after high school graduation.

Thank you YEP graduates for your dedication to our farm and for your lively energy!

#youthempowerment #yepcohort10 #graduates #farmwork #farmbased #agriculture #careerdevelopment

🌱📚 **Learn About Regenerative Agriculture!** 📚🌱

Discover the benefits of regenerative farming with our new tours at City Farm SLO. Learn how we nurture the land, grow healthy food, and support sustainability.

🗓️ Tours: Mon, Wed, Sat
⏰ Times: 10-11:30 AM or 1-2:30 PM
💵 Cost: $125 for 1-5 guests, $10 each extra

Book your educational adventure today!
📧 info@cityfarmslo.org
👉 cityfarmslo.org/tour

#CityFarmSLO #RegenerativeAgriculture #SustainableFarming 🌿✨

🌻🐑 **Family Fun at City Farm SLO!** 🐑🌻

Bring the whole family for an unforgettable farm adventure! Meet our friendly animals, taste fresh produce, and enjoy hands-on farm activities. Perfect for all ages!

🗓️ Tours: Mon, Wed, Sat
⏰ Times: 10-11:30 AM or 1-2:30 PM
💵 Cost: $125 for 1-5 guests, $10 each extra

Book now!
📧 info@cityfarmslo.org
👉 cityfarmslo.org/tour

#CityFarmSLO #FamilyFun #FarmTours 🌿✨

What an incredible year with our 2023-2024 College Corps Fellows. They started working at the farm in September 2023 and they each completed 450 hours of service. CFS Staff had the pleasure of watching them grow into skilled regenerative farmers and educators. Every student brought positive energy, creative ideas, and transformative contributions.

Special congratulations to Josh, Isabella, and Eduardo who graduated from Cal Poly lasts week! We are so proud of you, Fellows, and we thank you for such a great year🌱🐞

@calpolycollegecorps
#futurefarmers #learnbydoing #learnbydoinggood

Join us on the farm at an upcoming @harvestlymarket Market! 🍅🌽
Enjoy fresh fruits and vegetables, baked goods, snacks, and sweets, and lunch options all grown or produced locally. Plus live music and fun on the farm!

#farmersmarket #shoplocal #supportlocalfarmers

🐑🐔 **Meet the Animals at City Farm SLO!** 🐔🐑

Join our farm tours to meet and interact with our adorable sheep and chickens. Get up close with our animals and experience farm life firsthand!

🗓️ Tours: Mon, Wed, Sat
⏰ Times: 10-11:30 AM or 1-2:30 PM
💵 Cost: $125 for 1-5 guests, $10 each extra

Secure your spot now!
📧 info@cityfarmslo.org
👉 cityfarmslo.org/tour

#CityFarmSLO #FarmAnimals #FarmTours 🌿✨

🌞🌻 **Summer Fun at City Farm SLO!** 🌻🌞

Looking for a perfect summer outing? Join us for farm tours filled with family-friendly activities, fresh produce tastings, and hands-on farm fun!

🗓️ Tours: Mon, Wed, Sat
⏰ Times: 10-11:30 AM or 1-2:30 PM
💵 Cost: $125 for 1-5 guests, $10 each extra

Book now!
📧 info@cityfarmslo.org
👉 cityfarmslo.org/tour

#CityFarmSLO #SummerFun #FarmTours 🌿✨

🌟 Every day before camp, our YEP students engage in exciting ice breakers! This morning, we kicked off our day with the ‘Human Knot’! Ice breakers are essential because they:

1️⃣ Foster effective communication
2️⃣ Help everyone learn names quickly
3️⃣ Build a sense of camaraderie and teamwork

Starting the day with these fun challenges ensures our students are energized and ready to tackle the day ahead! 💪🎉 #CityFarmSLO #YouthEmpowerment #farmeducation

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Tenant Farming

Benefits to Tenant Farming

Meet our Tenant Farmers

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Follow us on Instagram @cityfarmslo