Santa Cruz Mtns Wine-Slow Food South Bay Coastal Pleasures Progressive Lunch

Date + Time: Sunday, October 12th 10:00 am - 5:15 pm Meet at 9:45 a.m. for carpooling at Woodside Park & Ride - Highway 280 at Woodside Road. Depart the Park & Ride promptly at 10:00 a.m.

General Itinerary

We will go to Half Moon Bay, Pillar Point Harbor. Learn about California's oldest fishing fleet from Jim Anderson, a member of the California Salmon Council.

Then, drive south, past the small town center of Pescadero to Harley Farms. Artisan goat cheese maker Dee Harley has put Pescadero on California's gourmet food map with her award-winning, hand-crafted goat cheese. Watch the goats frolic while enjoying Harley Farms' goat cheese appetizers, local artichoke soup with garlic rubbed fresh bread and and Harley Farms goat cheese ravioli with thyme butter sauce in the loft of Harley Farms' historic barn. Wine for lunch has been donated by Randy Robinson, Slow Food leader and owner of Vino Locale in Palo Alto. www.harleyfarms.com & www.vinolocale.com

Continue south to Blue House Farm, where three acres of carefully prepared soil yield hundreds of pounds of vegetables and berries distributed through a Community Supported Agriculture program. Farmers Ned Conwell and Ryan Casey are growing 120 varieties of edibles this season. While serving a salad of seasonal greens, they will talk about their vision for combining farming and environmental education, including animal tracking. The land they farm is leased from Peninsula Open Space Trust. www.bluehousefarm.org & www.openspacetrust.org

Again drive south, passing fields of artichokes, Brussels sprouts and English peas as well as Pass Pigeon Point Lighthouse on our way to Pie Ranch, an organic farm and educational center, where wheat for piecrust is among the crops under cultivation. Co- directors Karen Heisler and Jered Lawson and ranch manager/educator Nancy Vail will talk about their work with inner city youth. Pie Ranch is committed to the transformative powers of small, organic, sustainable farms and the ability of such places to educate all of us about the progression from earth to table. Here we enjoy their famous pies made with wheat grown and ground at Pie Ranch. www.pieranch.org

Return to the Woodside Park & Ride.

Cost: $65.

For more information about any of the stops or about the region in general, please call Ann Duwe, Slow Food South Bay at (650) 941-6381 or send email to: ann.duwe@sbcglobal.net