Skip to content

About

—— SINCE 2013

Welcome to Frecker Farms! We are a certified organic farm based in Carpinteria, CA. We currently grow 40+ different commodities on 35 acres year-round. You can find Frecker Farms products at select wholesale distributers and at local farmers markets.
At Frecker Farms, we help support local distribution chains by supplying them with local, organic options for fruits and vegetables, and we are proud of the relationships we have made in both Santa Barbara and Los Angeles Counties.

Screen Shot 2020-04-09 at 8.40.59 AM

—— HISTORY

Frecker Farms was started in October of 2013 by a then 25-year-old Alex Frecker. After years of working for John Givens Farm based in Goleta, CA, Alex rented 3 acres in Carpinteria, CA and set out to start his own small organic row crop farm.
“The days were long, and I wasn’t really sure what my goal was, but I knew that I wanted to take the knowledge and experiences that I gained working for John and apply them in a way where I too could grow vibrant, healthy vegetables and then market them in some way. I basically spent 4 months just putting all of my physical and mental energy, not to mention almost every penny I had saved, into this plot of land that was now growing a small abundance of seasonal vegetables that needed to be picked and sold, immediately.”
Alex applied for and was accepted into the Pacific Palisades Farmers Market, where he had previously sold organic vegetables for John Givens Farm for a number of years. “It worked because I already had a customer base that knew me and trusted me, now I just needed the produce to sell.”
Things moved slowly at first, and it took a while for customers to even notice there was a new, organic option for vegetables at the market. However, after a few months, patrons of the market started to migrate over and check out the stand. “I think people were stoked to see a young guy who had boasted years in advance that he was going to have his own farm someday, now at that same market selling his own organic veggies, and really following through with his claims.”

—— SUCCESS

Since 2013, Frecker Farms has grown from 3 acres to 35 acres in the basin of the Carpinteria Valley.

“We are beyond lucky to have been introduced to the owner of the last large plot of arable land suitable for row crops here in Carpinteria. We were at a time where we were ready to expand a bit, and the landlord was looking for a new tenant to rent acreage. It was definitely a bit of a stretch to increase our acreage by so much in a year, and I think that was a step where most small row crop farms that are geared towards production fail. It is tough to prepare for the overhead costs that are introduced by increasing your production exponentially. The next step was getting sales to support those costs.”
A few businesses Frecker Farms began to work with locally were Harvest Santa Barbara and the Isla Vista Food Coop. Both of these businesses have dedicated themselves to supporting and harboring our local foodshed by providing local, organic options to our community, and by allowing local farmers to enter the local foodchain, and as a result profit and continue to keep farming alive in the Tri-County.

GO SUPPORT THEM AND LOCAL AGRICULTURE IS SANTA BARBARA COUNTY!