Agritourism & Farm Experiences near Santa Maria, CA

Santa Maria

Santa Maria

This Dominion Road farm outside Santa Maria grows five varieties of blueberries alongside Albion strawberries and Freedom blackberries, all without pesticides, fungicides, or herbicides. The fields open for u-pick from March through July, with apricots, plums, tomatoes, and lavender coming available as the season progresses toward summer.

Nipomo

Nipomo Pumpkin Patch sets up on Eucalyptus Road each fall, running from late September through October 31 with pumpkins priced by size, from two-for-a-dollar minis up to several-hundred-pound giants that need a truck to haul home. Both carving and decorative varieties are on the lot, with sizes running up to soccer-ball-and-bigger. It's open daily during the season, with shorter weekday hours than weekends.

Santa Maria

This u-pick blueberry patch sits on Dominion Road in Santa Maria, the same stretch of Central Coast farmland that grows a large share of California's blueberry crop. Bring your own container and expect a cash-only setup, typical of small u-pick stands in the area.

Santa Maria

Blueberries Ole' is a u-pick blueberry farm on Dominion Road in Santa Maria. As with most Central Coast blueberry operations, the picking window runs through the late spring and summer months while berries are on the bush.

Arroyo Grande

Jerry Rutiz farms about 30 acres near Halcyon, just outside Arroyo Grande, growing vegetables, berries, culinary herbs, and cut flowers without pesticides. The farm isn't certified organic but follows organic practices, and sells through a CSA, an on-site stand, area restaurants, and seasonal u-pick. It's one of the longer-running small farms in this stretch of San Luis Obispo County.

Arroyo Grande

Talley Farms has grown vegetables on California's Central Coast since 1948 and is now run by the fourth generation of the Talley family from Lopez Drive in Arroyo Grande. The farm ships fresh produce year-round through its Fresh Harvest farm-box program, built on food safety and sustainable growing practices on Central Coast ground shaped by coastal fog and mild temperatures.

Santa Margarita

Double L Ranch is a working cattle operation turned family-run farmstay, 24 miles east of Santa Margarita near the headwaters of the Salinas River. The family bought the property in 1965 as a rundown turkey farm and built it into a cattle ranch over the decades since. Guests stay on-site and see real ranch work — feeding, fencing, moving cattle — in a secluded stretch of Central California mountains the ranch describes as California the way it looked a hundred years ago.

Santa Margarita

Rinconada Dairy makes raw and pasteurized cheese from its own sheep and goats on 92 acres bordering the Los Padres National Forest near Santa Margarita. The farm also raises pastured chickens and eggs and finishes pork on acorns gathered from its oak woodland. A farm stay is available, with a ranch breakfast sourced from what's raised on-site.

Avila Beach

The San Luis Obispo Wine Association was a trade group promoting the county's wine region, which spans Paso Robles, Edna Valley, and the coastal hills above Avila Beach. The organization's former web domain is no longer active, so current operating status is unconfirmed.

San Luis Obispo

Cal Poly's Fruit and Crop Science unit is a student-managed teaching orchard on the San Luis Obispo campus growing apples, pears, peaches, citrus, and berries. The orchard opens for pick-your-own access to the public, typically on Saturdays, as part of the university's Plant Sciences program.

Los Olivos

Clairmont Farm Lavender Co. has grown organic lavender and produce on Roblar Avenue in Los Olivos, California, since 1998. The Santa Ynez Valley farm sells lavender products alongside organic produce and livestock, and opens for visits Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., with appointments available outside those hours by request.

Santa Ynez

Quacken Farms sits in the Santa Ynez Valley, Santa Barbara County's stretch of ranchland and vineyards between the Santa Ynez Mountains and the San Rafael range.

Rancho Olivos has grown, harvested, milled, and bottled artisan extra virgin olive oil at its Santa Ynez ranch since 2004. The family-owned producer offers complimentary tastings at the ranch itself and runs a second retail shop on Morro Bay's Embarcadero, plus an olive oil club with Duet and Trio membership options for regular customers.

Solvang

Ballard Apple Farm grows a wide range of apple varieties on Baseline Avenue outside Solvang, adding new plantings most years, alongside apricots and fresh eggs. The farm uses natural growing practices rather than heavy spraying, and visitors can pick their own apples or take a pony ride past the miniature donkeys the farm is named for.

Restoration Oaks Ranch covers roughly 955 acres of oak woodland and cattle grazing land in the Santa Ynez Valley, a few miles south of Buellton. The property is home to Santa Barbara Blueberries, a U-pick berry farm that opens seasonally from May through September, and to the Wild Farmlands Foundation, the nonprofit that runs education and restoration programs on the land. A small cattle herd rounds out the operation.

Santa Ynez

Summerset Farm & Dale's Nursery is on Baseline Avenue in Santa Ynez, in the Santa Ynez Valley wine and horse country of Santa Barbara County. Warm days and cool nights in the valley support vineyards, orchards, and nursery stock side by side across its ranch-zoned parcels.