Browse archives: 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | 1997 | 1996 | 1995

Published on 07/17/1995 All articles from this issue

Family farmers: Schmitz clan sells produce the Farm Fresh way

printer friendly version

By Joanne Griffith Domingue / Town Crier Staff Writer

If it doesn't taste good, Diane Schmitz doesn't buy it.

She and her husband, Dave, own Farm Fresh Produce in Mountain View, where Covington Road ends in Grant Road at the edge of Los Altos.

And what Diane doesn't buy, Dave grows on the 15 acres surrounding their produce stand.

"They are known for their tomatoes and corn and their pumpkin patch," said Sandy Blakemore, friend and employee.

In the fall Diane gives tours of the pumpkin patch to more than 10,000 children, Dave said.

Diane runs the stand and Dave, a firefighter in Mountain View, farms the land. All their produce is pesticide free.

"That doesn't mean organically grown," Dave said. "Organically grown means no commercial fertilizers, and we use commercial fertilizers. We do all the weeding by hand, all the thinning and picking by hand."

And, Blakemore said, "It's picked ripe, not like commercially-grown produce."

Eight years ago, when Diane and Dave started their business, there was no farm stand, just apricot orchards on the 15 acres.

"We took all the trees down, and the original plan was to grow our own produce and sell it," Dave said.

In addition to their farm-stand customers, they sell their produce to 13 area grocery stores, from Consentino's in San Jose to Monterey Market in Palo Alto. And what they don't grow, they buy from other area farmers.

Diane is a Mountain View native and Dave has lived there for 35 years. Diane's mother, Theresa Navarro, works at the stand in the afternoons and their four children, Danielle, Derek, Deanne and Dana, will help out as they get older.

"This is very much a family-run thing," Blakemore said.

Farm Fresh Produce is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays. For more information, call 969-0863.