Farm Events

Planting Season is almost here! Thanks to your help during the last few months our soil, tools, and spirits are being restored.

The Seeding team is starting to coordinate seed drops and seedling care which means we can all start thinking about the planting schedule! We can't wait to see y'all out at the farm again soon!

Families welcome!

We are really excited to roll out our new sign up system too! We are going fully digital with online volunteer forms too. We are hard at work setting it all up and testing it with small group events but you can get a jump start by filling out the forms linked below!

2020 Harvest

17,570 lbs

Get Involved: Join a Farm Event or Team

NEW for 2021:

Please register as a volunteer and complete our NEW online Volunteer Forms (linked below) before registering for or attending your first 2021 event.

We are following all state and local ordinances for our volunteer events. Please read and agree to abide by our Covid-19 protocols before signing up as well.

Terms of Participation

Release & Waiver

COVID-19 Protocols

View Our Full Calendar to Sign Up and Volunteer

Or View Events by Type

Farm Care Events

Harvest Leader Training

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.

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!

The farm 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 you can.

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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

Friend of the Farm!

We suggest $8 per month.

If 120 people give $8 a month, we will cover approximately 40% of our operations budget.

Donate Now

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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Meet Our Board of Directors

President

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.

Darin is a cofounder of Firstfruits Farm SLO.

Farm Liaison

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.

Secretary-Elect

Dinora Escalera Delgado

Dinora Escalera Delgado is a SLO native and our Secretary-Elect for the 2021 Growing Season!

We are super excited to introduce you to Dinora and very happy that she wanted to join us! More info coming spring 2021.

Our History

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...

Executive Director

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.

Secretary

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.

Treasurer-Elect

Kyle Madel

Kyle Madel is a Financial Analyst and our Secretary-Elect for the 2021 Growing Season!

We are super excited to introduce you to Kyle and very happy that he too wanted to join us! More info coming spring 2021.

Our Partners

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.

Treasurer

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.

Communications

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.

Exec. Director-Elect

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.