The Dirt Beneath My Feet

Our Story of Soul Food Farm

We bought this historic Vacaville farm in the late 1990s. With our three children, we settled down onto a bare piece of land. No house, no running water, no electricity. It was such a big risk, but we had a dream.

This 55 acres of prime pasture and farmland in Vacaville, CA, had been untended for 30 years, and it showed. We spent the first few weeks cleaning up the property, installing running water and electricity, and a brought in a temporary home. Once we were settled, we began to look at the land, and consider all the possibilities of what we could accomplish. It took some time, but our vision began to emerge.

We started by planting 300 olive trees with our family and offered the experience to our children to connect them to this new life. Later, we launched a pastured raised poultry operation- a decision that would change our lives. At first, it was simply about feeding people, supporting my family, and being able to afford this farm. I believed deeply in the satisfaction of a hard day’s work. Over time, subjects that had been on the fringe of our belief system before have taken on everyday importance. We’ve immersed ourselves in issues of community land use, the true cost of feeding people, workers’ rights, and the humane treatment of animals.

Today, Soul Food Farm is working on redesigning the farm and adding layers of diversity that will allow us to have products and food that is harvested all year long. We are gearing up to extend the olive orchard and making plans to plant more fruit trees. Think of heirloom peaches, apricots and pears. Our lavender partnership with Morning sun Herb Farm is growing and our line of products is expanding. Rose and I started making lavender essential oil a few years ago and now have added hydrosols, culinary salts and bath products to our line of herbs and lavender that we grow here at the farm. The really big news is that we are working on a farm store and hope to have a lovely farm shop open here at Soul Food Farm next spring. We are imaging the “farm store” to be a place where we not only sell Soul Food Farm goods, but also local farm food being produced in our region. Pleasants Valley Road is a historical agricultural area and small farms still produce beautiful, pesticide free food. We want to show them off and build community. We have grown up over the years and think of farming now as a way of life that changes and requires flexibility. We are taking what we have learned from a decade of farming pastured chickens and dreaming of a farm with functionality, beauty and the time to share the fruits of our labors.

— Alexis and Eric Koefoed