Located on 28 acres of the former Kinoshita Farm site, San Juan Capistrano’s Ecology Center, a regenerative organic certified farm and education center, has helped change the culinary landscape of South County in only 15 years. On Nov. 4, the sprawling farm will celebrate its 15-year anniversary with a public fete featuring food straight from the soil, guided tours of the farm, live music and more.
Since its inception in 2008, the farm has grown from hundreds of visitors each year to more than 75,000 people who visit the center annually. Many local farm-to-table restaurants buy directly from the farm, with roughly between 3,000 to 5,000 households purchasing their food at the farm stand for seasonal vegetables, fruits, herbs and flowers.
In addition to the organic farm, visitors can check out the fermentation lab, a breakfast-lunch cafe and the property’s wood-frame Congdon House built in 1878. Materials used to construct the home include redwood lumber that made its way by boat from San Francisco and sandstone slabs pulled from the nearby Mission. Today the Ecology Center uses the homestead as its main office, which also serves as a charming anchor to the surrounding farm.
The Ecology Center also made a name for itself, in part, due to its recurring Community Table dinners, an al fresco dining experience featuring noted chefs and culinary superstars like farm-to-table movement pioneer Alice Waters (“This is an oasis,” Waters told Ecology Center founder and executive director Evan Marks during her inaugural visit to the farm in 2016), Valle’s Roberto Alcocer, Samin Nosrat of “Salt Fat Acid Heat” fame, Michael Campbell of Pacific Pearl Catering Co. and Marcelo Hisaki of Restaurante Amores in Tecate, Baja California.
Most recently, the Ecology Center opened Campesino Cafe in June, a breakfast-lunch eatery that serves meals straight from the nearby farm. Depending on the season, its menu features items like goat’s milk yogurt parfait with granola, berries and honey; fermented vegetable and salanova lettuce salad with guajillo chile; or squash blossom salad with raw squash and green onion.
In 2022, the center worked with the city to extend its license agreement for a total of 40 years. The 15-year anniversary party, which is free, happens Saturday, Nov. 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Find it: 32701 Alipaz (at Camino Del Avion), San Juan Capistrano
