ARROYO GRANDE BERRY FARM
Maria Iniquez, fondly known as Trini, never imagined she would change her career from cosmetologist to farmer. Her brother Jose was always the farmer of the family with a dream of transitioning his strawberry farm to organic. Trini fell into farming when Jose unexpectedly passed away in 2015. She wanted to bring her brothers dream to fruition and to honor his memory and be close to him.
In 2016 Trini took over Arroyo Grande Farm with no experience farming and no one to teach her. She started with 25 acres and a few years ago the owners sold some of the land, leaving her with 10 acres. The farm is located in Arroyo Grande, about 20 minutes south of San Luis Obispo. Situated on a mesa overlooking the ocean, the sand dunes are visible in the distance. The ocean provides cool early morning breezes and the daytime temperature remains a constant 65-70 degrees year round. Never too hot or too cold, this unique microclimate “helps contribute to the flavor and growth of the plants,” said Trini. A quick drive 20 minutes away and the weather becomes much cooler or warmer.
“The first year taking on the farm there was a lot of trial and error growing strawberries. I put in hoop houses when I took over the land to help protect the strawberries from birds as well as prevent the berries from becoming too cold in the evening,” said Trini.
Trini started with strawberries and now grows raspberries, snap peas, green beans, zucchini and fava beans are the newest addition to the farm. She rotates the crops throughout the year so there is always something growing. Strawberries are rotated with green beans and raspberries are rotated with zucchini. Having a diverse crop rotation improves soil health, increases nutrients for the crops and helps to reduces erosion.
The best way to keep away the pests is to “keep the plants clean of weeds. We have hoops and a tractor doesn’t fit between the plants. We use pickers that pull the weeds by hand between the plants and on the road. It is very expensive to do by hand,” said Trini.
Trini learned early on it is hard to compete on price with larger berry growers during the summer months. Arroyo Grande strawberries are available on the shoulders of the season from December through April/May. Their raspberries have developed a following for their incredibly sweet flavor, full red color and delicate texture. The season starts up in late April/early May with peak production in July and August. Her ultimate goal is to have raspberries year round. She is also experimenting with golden raspberries that has a flavor reminiscent of a mango. They are available in limited quantities for now.
When asked what she wanted her customers to know, Maria said that she “calls Arroyo Grande “my brother’s ranch”. My brother was a people person and he would be so happy. He would invite me to stay and watch the beautiful sunsets and sunrises from the ranch.”
Arroyo Grande is now harvesting sweet raspberries.