Caring for the earth and our neighbors by organically farming and freely giving fruits and vegetables to people experiencing food insecurity in San Luis Obispo County, California.
Farm Events
Planting Season is here! Y'all showed up and transplanted over 7,000 seedlings on May 1st. And then you showed up again on May 8th to care for those crops and add more seeds and seedlings to the field!
2020 Harvest
17,570 lbs
We've got another 6,000 seedlings to transplant on May 15th! Come on out and lend a hand. We are excited to see y'all again!!!
On May 15th & May 28th, we'll be planting onions, celery, peppers, eggplant, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, lettuce, beets, chard, Chinese cabbage, parsley, & leeks.
As an organic farm we are always working to reduce the weed pressure in the field. This year we will be irrigating the field to sprout weed seeds and removing the sprouts while they are small. Join us to help remove these weed sprouts.
Families welcome!
Come on out to Farm Care Tuesdays with Farmer Paul from 5pm - 7pm. The Tuesday evening group tends to the crops, infrastructure, and miscellaneous tasks to keep the farm operating smoothly. Feel free to join for a portion of the evening and decompress your day at the field.
Click images to register!
Click images to register!
Click images to register!
We want to make sure that anyone with a heart for food security feels confident to lead a community harvest; so, we are offering our 3-part Harvest Leader training at least twice this year. And to make attendance even easier, Parts I & II are via Zoom! Part III will be hands-on in the veggie field.
The veggie field is located at 173 Buckley Road in San Luis Obispo. Our field is behind the office for Thousand Hills Pet Resort. Please drive slowly through the parking lot, follow the signs, and carpool if possible.
Bring a full water bottle, gloves, a hat, sunglasses, sturdy shoes, sunscreen, a full water bottle, and your smile. Seriously folks, stay hydrated out there!
We are really excited to roll out our new sign up system too! We are going fully digital with online volunteer forms too. Get a jump start on registering for our 2021 Events by filling out your forms now. Just click the links provided.
Get Your Farm T-Shirt Now!
Donate $25 to the farm via the donate tab or in person at an event.
To arrange pick-up of your shirt, screenshot and text your receipt with your first and last name and size (s, m, l, or xl) to
(805) 556-8362.
Who We Are
We are a faith-based, volunteer-run nonprofit farm inspired by Christ’s profound love for humankind to practice compassion without exception. We do this by offering our first choice harvest without prejudice or condition to all local community members experiencing food insecurity.
Planting Hope
In a world easily divided by clan, creed, practice, status, and politics, Firstfruits Farm SLO is committed to acting Justly, loving mercy, and walking humbly with The Creator through fostering ongoing partnerships between churches, community organizations, and individuals; in this way, we seek to be an intersection for our community.
Growing Generosity
From seed to harvest, we cultivate our crops through volunteer-run activities, welcoming all ages and skill levels. Each farm event starts with instructions, and we have training videos on our Youtube channel. Everyone is welcome to use their capabilities to love their neighbors as themselves.
Honoring Dignity
We believe that every person bears the image of The Creator and is endowed with inherent worthiness. We understand many of our worthy neighbors lack access to fresh & nutritious food; so, we donate all harvests to our distribution partners who serve individuals and families experiencing food insecurity.
Friends of the Farm
Set up a recurring monthly donation of any amount to become an official
We suggest $8 per month.
If 120 people give $8 a month, we will cover approximately 40% of our operations budget.
Sign Up for our Newsletter
Keep up with all the happenings at the Farm and orchard!
If you have any questions or want to schedule a group for a team building experience at the farm, e-mail us.
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Darin Laity
Darin Laity works in the space industry as a systems engineer at Vandenberg AFB. He also serves as the Superintendent of Operations at the 148th Space Operations Squadron. He formerly owned and operated a private farm and is the farm advisor for Firstfruits Farm SLO.
Darin is a cofounder of Firstfruits Farm SLO.
Marti Kessler
Marti Kessler is a retired San Luis Obispo teacher. Marti is passionate about gardening and caring for people. She has experience serving in different community organizations and is certified in produce safety.
Marti is a cofounder of Firstfruits Farm SLO.
Jen Smith
Jen Smith is the Senior Business Intelligence Strategist for The Parable Group in San Luis Obispo City. She provides experience with digital media, digital design, & communication management.
She has been involved at the farm since 2017.
Wes Carlson
Wes Carlson is a Financial Advisor with Edward Jones Investments who has served clients in San Luis Obispo County for eight years. He has sat on multiple non-profit boards and provides community organization experience.
He has been involved with Firstfruits Farm SLO since 2013.
Faith Carlson
Faith Carlson is a registered ASW with the Board of Behavioral Sciences. She has served seniors and the homeless population in San Luis Obispo County for eight years. Faith provides management and community program development experience.
Faith has been involved at the farm since 2013.
Kyle Madel
Kyle is a Financial Analyst at Curation Foods. He is excited to use his skills to help keep the farm books balanced and more importantly help our community members.
Kyle is passionate about food justice and finance which makes him a perfect fit for our team.
Kyle has been involved at the farm since 2020.
Feeding SLO
When you help at the farm, you are directly impacting the lives of hundreds of families who will receive, at no cost, fresh vegetables from food distribution sites such as God’s Storehouse, Judson Terrace, the Salvation Army, Stand Strong, the San Luis Obispo Veteran’s Center, and the Food Bank Coalition of San Luis Obispo County.
Fred Kessler
Fred Kessler was the president of his own private agricultural corporation that installed, serviced, and maintained dairy farm equipment throughout the state of Montana for 35 years. He is now retired.
Fred is a cofounder of Firstfruits Farm SLO.
Paul Shackelford
Paul is no stranger to the farm, having become a core member of the Farm Operations Team over the 2019 and 2020 growing seasons.
We are super excited to announce that Paul will be taking an even larger role at the farm in 2021.
Dinora Escalera Delgado
Dinora is a Leasing Agent at Valencia Student Housing. She is taking pre-nursing courses at Cuesta College with plans to continue on to their Registered Nursing program. Dinora is a SLO native and just a delightful human being!
She has been involved with Firstfruits Farm SLO since 2020.
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Read Our Story
In 2011, two churches, Grace SLO and Trinity Church, came together to create Firstfruits Farm SLO as a joint farm ministry to supply first choice produce to God's Storehouse, a food pantry ministry operated by Grace Church...