Tony  Mellow's family has been farming in the Silicon Valley for four  generations, since the 1800s. His grandparents started the first of the   family farms, growing apricots, prunes, and pears for the local  canneries. His father continued the tradition, adding farms spread  across the San Francisco Bay area to grow walnuts and  fruit for local canneries and prune dehydrators. Tony always knew he  wanted to be a farmer and has been farming since he was 12. In 1966, he started  growing pumpkins and miscellaneous vegetables and by 1977 he owned his  own ranch in Morgan Hill. He went to the Garden City Farmers' Market in   San Jose when it opened. "That was the first of the local farmers'  markets, before farmers markets got big" he remembers. Today, he has  built his business around farmers markets and says they are the only way   small and medium sized farms will survive in an urban area. He has been selling at Heart  of the City Farmers Market since the very first day and remembers the  huge crowd of people who were lined up before dawn on opening day.    There was nowhere else to buy produce if you lived in this neighborhood  in 1981, and today is much the same.  A painting of Tony selling his  goods is incorporated in a mural on Taylor street, which was created as a  celebration of neighborhood pride. After 30 years selling here, Tony  and his produce are an important part of this neighborhood.  It's obvious he loves what he does. Tony is  also a very important part of this market, he is a dedicated volunteer  on our Board of Directors and is currently serving as Board Treasurer.  He helped start the discussion of a Friday market day with the Board  that has grown into our August 3 Friday Market grand opening.

Apolinar (Poli) Yerena was born in Jalisco, Mexico, in a family of four generations of farmers.  He has been farming for more than 35 years. He began working as a strawberry picker in 1967 and learned to farm on his own after the company provided his family 2.5 acres of land for sharecropping. After growing for this company for 12 years, Poli and his brother Gilberto decided to lease their own farm in Watsonville. They began in 1982 growing conventionally, but in response to market demand converted 5 trial acres to organic. The organic produce sold so well they eventually decided to transition the entire 22-acre farm in Royal Oaks to organic.

Today, Yerena Farms is operated with the help of Poli’s wife Silvia, his children, and a small team of full time employees. They have been selling certified organic strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, squash and squash blossoms directly to their customers at farmers markets for two decades. It’s a tough job, Poli explains, but he works the land because he loves it. “We are a different breed. Not everyone is made for this work. If it is cold, we go out to work. If it rains, we go.” But, he explains, it’s all worth it when he sees the joy on the faces of his customers as they taste his deliciously sweet, traditionally-farmed berries.

Far West Fungi farm is located in a 60,000 square foot growing facility strategically located in Moss Landing in the heart of Monterey Bay. Moss Landing is surrounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west, Elkhorn Slough National Estuarine Research Reserve to the north and east, and farmlands of artichokes and strawberries throughout. The farm is 1/4 mile from the Pacific Ocean, where a steady ocean breeze and northern coastal fog make it ideal for a consistent outside temperature throughout the year and a perfect location to grow mushrooms.

Far West Fungi started in 1982 as a mail order supply company and today provides a year round supply of exotic, certified organic specialty mushrooms at local markets, including Shiitake, Tree Oyster, Lions Mane, Maitake, and King Oysters. The farm uses a balance of modern and traditional growing techniques to produce high quality mushrooms while ensuring minimal impact on the environment.

The Fruit Tree was started in 1930 by Phil Carter’s grandparents as a small farm selling mostly cherries and apricots to local food processors. The family moved to Winters in 1968 and concentrated on producing dried fruit, mostly apricots and prunes. By 1969, Phil’s father opened a year-round fruit stand on State Highway 128 where the family sold their dried and fresh fruit. Soon after, they began growing other products such as their signature almonds, pistachios, and walnuts. Today the family offers more than 40 different varieties of the best and freshest raw, roasted, and flavored nuts and are continually expanding their selection.

The Teresi and Rasmussen families have a long history of farming in the Santa Clara valley, mostly growing prunes, apricots and cherries. Phil Teresi and Grace Rasmussen first met at Farm Bureau events for local young farmers and ranchers. They reconnected 10 years later after each had been involved with a handful of other farming and food related ventures. For the past 20 years they have been farming 12 acres in San Benito County. They are most proud of their dry farmed tomatoes and fruit, saving water and producing flavor-packed organic produce.

G.L Alfieri Farms is located on 150 acres in Escalon and Ripon, about 90 miles south of the San Francisco Bay area. Gary Alfieri’s grandfather Gasper began farming the land in 1926, growing alfalfa hay using horse-drawn plows. He planted an almond orchard soon after. Gary’s father Joseph Alfieri began working on the farm when he returned from serving in the army during WWII, and Gary, along with his brothers and sister, grew up farming alongside their father. Now, Gary has been running the farm for over 24 years and offers a huge variety of delicious fruit and nut confections, stone fruit, apples, and grapes. He is an active foster parent and has adopted four children who he raised on the farm.

Mohammed Afzal has been farming for over 30 years. In 2000 he started M. A. Farms, which grows seasonal varieties of stone fruits, pomegranates, persimmons, citrus, and limited quantities of mulberries. M. A. Farms specializes in more than six varieties of asian pears - Mohammed was one of the first farmers to start growing them in the USA 30 years ago, so the quality of his fruit reflects this experience.

Mohammed earned a degree from UC Davis in pomology (the study and cultivation of fruit) and started his own farm because he loves farming and being in nature. “He spends hours out there, even when there’s nothing to do,” jokes his son Muz, who loves selling at the market because he loves chatting with his customers.

The whole family - Mohammed’s wife and his 5 children - help to run the farm. It is called M. A. Farms because almost the whole family has the initials M. A. - Mohammed, Muz, Mahreen, Mobeen, and Moazum Afzal.

Frank Paredez’s grandfather and father came to the United States from Mexico in 1911. Frank’s grandfather worked on the railroad, traveling the US until he settled in Fresno in 1918 and purchased land in Tulare County to farm with his son. Frank Paredez grew up on that farm learning how to grow from his father and grandfather. In 1980, sixty-two years after the land was first purchased by his grandfather, Frank took over the operation. Today, Paredez Farms is still a predominantly family operation, in cooperation with a small team of workers. They specialize in a wide variety of super-sweet fruits including plums, peaches, apricots, grapes, and citrus. Frank met and fell in love with his wife Wei at Heart of the City Farmers Market while she was selling with her family at Bach Thi Phan farm.

Ken Phan’s family has been in the farming business for over 20 years. Ken specializes in Vietnamese herbs but as his quality is becoming more recognized, he’s branching out to provide American herbs as well. He grows more than 50 varieties of herbs on his farm and he and his family work nearly around the clock the two days before market day picking and bundling, so you can be sure you’re getting the freshest herbs possible. He farms naturally without chemicals and says he can’t afford to use chemical sprays and fertilizers even if he wanted to use them.

Ken works seven days a week, but he says the hard work pays off in the security his farm brings for his family. He came to America from Vietnam in 1989 in search of a better life, but it is hard to find reliable work here.  Farming means he can be in control of his own business. He and his family members work hard to keep this small family business thriving.

Rudy Bungcayao came to America from the Philippines in the 70s. His wife is from Hawaii and he lived there with her until they decided to move to California to start a farm with the help of Rudy’s uncle, who immigrated to California in 1927 and started a 5-acre onion farm. Rudy wanted to be a farmer too because he wanted to work for himself. When Rudy’s uncle retired, he gave his farm equipment to Rudy so he could carry on the tradition. Rudy learned a lot about farming not only from him, but also another uncle living here who grew Asian vegetables like long beans. With so much experience in the family, Rudy learned how to be successful as a farmer. He now owns his own land and rents additional farmland to help him provide a diverse selection of produce for his customers. Rudy sells at Heart of the City Farmers Market with his sister Alelie, sister in-law Sally, and brother Richard. They all work together to keep this family farm thriving.

Pedro and Rosie Medina and their family have grown berries on 30 acres in Watsonville for more than 15 years. Pedro’s father began as a berry picker and then became a broker, eventually learning how to grow berries himself. He bought land and started Medina Berry Farms. The farm is now run by the second and third generation of Medinas, who are hoping to pass on the family legacy to the fourth generation. Though the farm grows other fruits and vegetables, the berries are the Medina’s pride and joy. They recently added greenhouse-like tunnels to cover the berries, since berries are so easily damaged by rain. With these changes and improvements, Medina Berry Farms can bring their delicious, pesticide-free berries to customers with more options and less interruption.