High Ground Organics Farm and CSA

High Ground Organics is perched above Harkins Slough, just outside of Watsonville west of Highway 1. We bought this land in 2000, after farming on leased land in the area for a few years. A local land trust (The Open Space Alliance) sold us the property after applying two easements that protect it in perpetuity. OSA recognized that preserving this land from development was vital to protect the sensitive habitat of Harkins Slough (a freshwater wetland bordering us on two sides.) The hillsides that lead down to the slough (about half of the 40 acres) are in a Conservation Easement and cannot be farmed or developed at all. The other half of the property is protected under a unique Agricultural Easement, that not only keeps it in farmland (prohibits development), but requires that it be managed organically forever.