Fifth Crow Farm: land use, sustainable agriculture and finding the apple of your eye

How Fifth Crow Farm built a thriving, ecologically diverse farm just a few short miles from Silicon Valley.

“Hey—what’s Fifth Crow Farm all about?”

Glad you asked. Fifth Crow Farm was founded by Teresa Kurtak, John Vars, and Mike Irving. They all passed through the UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden Program — not at the same time, but they connected through the community.

That’s where the three first began planning a farm in Washington state.

“Washington state? I thought all Rootstock produce comes from local farms?”

Yeah, I’ll explain. The UC Santa Cruz Farm and Garden Program is known for advancing agroecology and equitable food systems through hands-on education and research. It’s also where the young farmers met Orin Martin — known as “the apple master.” 

As Teresa tells it, “Orin’s passion is pomme fruits—apples and pears—he’s written books on the subject! He sparked our own love for unusual apple varieties.”

The three were inspired to start their own farm, and they knew apples would play an important role—but apple orchards require a lot of land and time to mature. In the Bay Area, farmland is expensive and always under pressure from housing development. John’s grandfather had land in Chehalis, Washington, so they planned to head north. They even turned to Orin for advice on which apple varieties would thrive in Washington. 

Thankfully, before the big relocation, the farmers discovered an amazing land leasing opportunity close to home.

You wouldn’t spot it driving Highway 1 south toward Santa Cruz. Your eyes would be on the crashing waves — or hopefully on the winding road ahead. Even if you pulled into Pescadero for a warm loaf of legendary artichoke bread (which you should), you’d still miss it. To find it, you have to head inland and turn right on Cloverdale Road.

There, just a few miles from the coast, lies a stretch of fertile farmland watered naturally by Butano Creek. With only a handful of small towns nearby, there’s little demand on the creek, and it provides sufficient water for agriculture. On one side, a steep ridge rises toward Skyline Boulevard; on the others, Butano State Park and conservation lands protect the area from development.

It was here the three realized they’d found the perfect ground for their farm — right in their own backyard. With the help of land owners Gene and Donna Richeson, and later Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), they now lease land protected by POST easements that will hopefully keep it in farming far into the future.

“But what about the apples they picked for Washington?"

Great question. Not only had they chosen the varieties, they had actually grafted scions from more than twenty varieties onto semi-dwarfing rootstock and grew the young trees out at the Esalen farm in Big Sur. 

“Hold on, hold on. Scion? Rootstock? Semi-dwarfing? Grew-out?”

I know — it’s a lot of jargon. Let’s slow it down: grafting is a technique where tissues from one plant are joined to another so they grow as one. The top part, the scion, determines the fruit variety. The bottom part, the rootstock (wink, wink), provides the trunk and roots — influencing tree size, disease resistance, and how well it adapts to soil. 

They chose semi-dwarfing rootstock—that means the root systems are of trees that grow to about 75% of a full tree. The resulting, smaller trees are easier to manage, and “pedestrian” — meaning you can harvest the apples by hand, without ladders.

Growing out the apples means nurturing each grafted tree until they develop strong roots and sturdy trunks — giving them time to become independent young trees ready for transplanting into an orchard.

It was as those young trees wintered at Esalen that the three found the Pescadero plot. Happily, the same apple varieties they’d selected for Washington thrive here too — perfectly suited to our cool, coastal climate.

“How many types of apples do they grow?”

Fifth Crow has twenty-eight rare heirloom apple varieties — most never seen in grocery stores. It’s very challenging to commercialize an apple. In that way, Fifth Crow operates as a type of seed bank for heirloom apple varieties that would likely disappear if not for the passion of farmers like Teresa, John and Mike.

According to Teresa: “For every person there is an apple. There are people that say they don’t like apples but that’s just because they haven’t had the right apple yet.”

But they aren’t just specialists in apples. 

Take a random day in the fall harvest season and you’ll see the range. Baby greens, beets, broccoli, kale, chard. Carrots, cauliflower, fennel, corn. Apples and pears from the orchards. Ten kinds of peppers, summer squash, cherry and dry-farmed tomatoes, Tokyo turnips, onions, winter squash — and even more.

“And what’s their approach to farming?”

They’ve been certified organic from the start, and they see organic as the foundation for everything else. Regenerative practices have long been part of their approach, but they believe you can’t have “regenerative” without being organic first.

The farm is also a refuge. The land supports wildlife, and they see no reason farming and habitat can’t coexist. And it’s about people, too. They believe farms should be places the public can experience firsthand. Hosting events takes extra work, but in their view, farms will only endure if they’re woven into the community.

“We’ve always had an open-door philosophy,” Teresa said. “We welcome visitors. You can always stop by and see what we’re doing. You can’t farm in a place everyone sees as their backyard and not welcome them in to show them what you’re up to.”

“Nice. How do they sell all of the stuff they grow?”

It’s not easy. Selling through the right mix of channels and making the economics work is a challenge for all farms—same for Fifth Crow. They run a CSA program that currently serves around 850 families, with about 650–700 boxes going out each week. They also show up at a handful of farmers’ markets, and they wholesale to restaurants and stores. And there’s Rootstock — that’s where you get their apples, beans, carrots, and spinach.

“This place sounds so cool. Why is it called Fifth Crow?”

Everyone wants an epic story — a Native folktale, or maybe a goth thing. The truth is more down-to-earth. Naming the farm was really hard. Each of the three founders had strong opinions, and they probably went through twenty names where two of them said yes and the third said no.

They wanted something edgy — not cute, and not tied to a family name. They think of themselves as a “Family Farm 2.0” — a partnership of multiple families, not just one. Eventually they landed on the idea of a crow as their mascot or totem. 

But “Three Crows” felt too on-the-nose.

“Three crows, three farmers? Tacky!” Teresa laughed as she told the story. “‘Four Crows’ was out because odd numbers beat even aesthetically — so we jumped to five.”

At first, it was “Five Crows Farm.” But then someone suggested “Fifth Crow,” and that stuck.

“Five Crows” is just five crows. But “Fifth Crow”? That’s a mystery. Who’s the fifth crow? What does it mean? It’s curious.

“Maybe I’ll check out one of their farm visit days!”

You should. It’s only 18.5 miles from Rootstock HQ as the crow flies. It’s a beautiful, intentional, and diverse place, a vision of what farming can be. At Rootstock, we share their commitment to soil, community, and good, nourishing food — and we’re proud to bring their story, and their produce, to you.

 

Sources

Big thanks to Teresa for taking time from her busy schedule for the interview this article is based on.

OrchardPeople. (n.d.). Grafting fruit trees. OrchardPeople.com. Retrieved 25 October 2025, from https://orchardpeople.com/grafting-fruit-trees/

Leaf, Root & Fruit. (2015, May 4). Buying fruit trees: The importance of choosing the right rootstock. Retrieved 25 October 2025, from https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/choosing-the-right-fruit-tree-rootstock/

Peninsula Open Space Trust. (n.d.). Farmland Program. Retrieved 25 October 2025, from https://openspacetrust.org/farmland-program/