Prevedelli Farms: An Organic Haven of Lemons, Berries and More

Close to the Pacific Ocean lies the city of Watsonville, a place that Prevedelli Farms calls home. We had the lovely opportunity to connect with farmer Nick and get a tour of the family farm, a beautiful space with an ocean view and rolling hills, fruit orchards, so many varieties of blackberries that I never knew, as well as an assortment of new vegetables coming soon to the local farmers market!

Christine’s Cookie Co. came to know Prevedelli Farms when on the lookout for organic berries last year and we are thrilled to be partnering again with them this year to bring back our lemon earl grey cookie. It’s a fan favorite, and we’re so lucky to be supplied the organic Meyer lemons for our cookies. Each lemon is picked by the Prevedelli team, then zested, juiced, and turned into cookie dough and house-made lemon jam by our bakers. Learn more about the farmers behind this cookie flavor and all the exciting things they are looking forward to this upcoming year.

Tell us a bit more about how Prevedelli Farms started.

My grandpa started this farm - he immigrated from Italy, and bought the land in 1945. The barn here has been on the farm for about 100 years, and our family continued his legacy since. Though it originally started as a vegetable farm, my parents added apple trees, which we’re most well-known for, but we are now going back to add more vegetables in our product lineup.

The farm has everything needed from packing to storing produce - my dad even handbuilt this apple processing machine for packing and washing apples, and my brother continues to help build-out and maintain the machine.

How has it been running an organic farm?

My parents were the ones who started the organic certification process.The farm became fully organic certified about 20 years ago. We’ve kept it up since then, but prices of organic produce aren’t that much more expensive as non-organic produce, and as many of us known, it’s more difficult to grow organically because everyday farming problems can’t be solved by using chemicals. But we’re doing our best to be smart about growing organically. For example, some of our vegetables are grown in between our fruit trees to help conserve water.

What are some things you look forward to outside of your daily farming responsibilities?

We’re currently planning our annual farm dinner in September. We set up cooking equipment and a large table for our guests with an amazing view of the farm, and five chefs come out to each make one course out on the farm. These are chefs that we have a relationship already and use our produce. It’s a wonderful way to celebrate and support our farm. Though we are sold out for this year’s dinner, there is a waitlist that people can sign up for.

The farm is also now raising funds for a scholarship in honor of my father who recently passed away. There will be a silent auction to raise money for this scholarship which is awarded to students going into agricultural studies.

Where can we find Prevedelli Farms?

We’re at quite a few farmers markets throughout the South Bay Area. Sometimes you can find my mom working at the farmers markets (she’s very loved by the market community)!

Friday - Farm Pick-up - Watsonville. 12pm-4pm

Friday - Monterey - Del Monte Shopping Center. 8am-12pm

Saturday - Aptos - Cabrillo College. 8am-12pm

Saturday - San Mateo – College of San Mateo. 9am-1pm

Saturday - Saratoga - West Valley College. 9am-1pm

Saturday - Sunnyvale - Downtown Sunnyvale. 9am-1pm

Sunday - Mountain View - Cal Train Lot. 9am-1pm

Sunday - Palo Alto – California Avenue. 9am-1pm

What are your favorite fruits from the farm?

Mutsu apples and boysenberries!