Event: 2016 Harvest Festival at Farmstead

Celebrate Harvest at Farmstead Our Harvest Festival returned to the Farmstead this year, complete with hay rides, pumpkin patch, pony rides, face painting, and baby pigs. Thank you to all the families that came out and celebrated with us. We will see you at next year's Harvest Festival, October 21st! If you enjoyed reading this article please add your name ...

Santa Ynez Chefs Sourcing KuneKune Pork

KUNEKUNE BREEDING PROGRAM We love KuneKunes and are thrilled that Farmstead visitors can share our joy of raising them. With the help of Jake from Valley Piggery and Lori from the Kunekune Registry, we established a model focused on creating awareness for this once endangered breed. Each of our pigs are raised for either local families looking to start their own herd, or ...

Custom Wedding Proposal in Santa Ynez

CUSTOM PROPOSAL COMPLETE WITH GOATS For weeks Sam secretly worked with Armando Martinez, of Alegria by Design, to plan an unforgettable marriage proposal for his girlfriend Natalie. They headed from Los Angeles to Santa Ynez on June 27th, with Natalie completely unaware of what surprises were in store. After meandering along the dirt roads, they reached Refugio Ranch’s private estate where they were greeted by saddled horses ...

Super Bloom on Grass Mountain

POPPIES IN SANTA YNEZ VALLEY Have you noticed the bright red and orange patches covering some of our mountain tops in the Santa Ynez Valley? They are bold patches of poppies exploding on the hillsides! So why are the blooms so prolific this year, even after a lackluster El Nino? In this article we’ll discuss what causes a super bloom and give ...

Finding Quality Grapes in SYV

THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN MAKING WINE Making wine is a patient craft, and timing is everything. For winemakers, there is just one chance every year to get it right. A winemaker who toils for thirty years, has just thirty chances to make remarkable wine – it’s an idea made even more poignant when we remember that a truly great wine ...

Planting Your First Vineyard

PLANTING BY MOONLIGHT The first signs of light came not from the sky, but headlights and headlamps cutting through thick fog, making their way to the top of the vineyard road. At the front of the team was Ruben with over 10,000 bare root vines, a large box of breakfast burritos and his crew of around 45 hardworking men and ...