Capay, California
Capay Organic is a second generation organic farm that got its start in the Coastal Range’s Capay Valley, 90 miles northeast of San Francisco. The farm was founded by Kathleen Barsotti and Martin Barnes in 1976 – marking the early stages of the organic foods movement.
Understanding the sometimes harmful methods of modern agriculture, they realized that there was a niche for quality organic produce grown the way that nature intended for it to be – organically. The farm started as a part-time interest for Kathy while she raised her family and worked as a researcher at UC Davis. Eventually the day came when Kathy elected to spend all of her time building the farm. Having no idea of the toil that lay ahead, but armed with a great idea and determination, the journey began.
Starting with one small farmers’ market in Davis that was co-founded by Kathy and Martin and fellow students while in grad school and a few gourmet restaurants that understood the superior principles and quality of organic agriculture, Capay Organic slowly developed a market for its produce. By the early 90s, Capay Organic was an established small, organic family farm, supplying Bay Area stores, restaurants and farmers’ markets with quality organic produce.
After more than thirty years of organic farming, Capay Organic grows more that 150 varieties of fruits and vegetables on 500 acres of certified organic land. The farm is now owned and operated by the second generation farmers – Kathy and Martin’s sons – Noah, Thaddeus and Freeman. In keeping with their parents’ vision, the farm practices healthy crop rotation, encourages a diverse ecosystem around our fields, efficiently uses local water sources, and carefully selects produce varieties that grow well and taste great.
