John Givens Farm is a 170-acre, multi-generational family farm that is spread across more than a dozen parcels of land along the central coast of California. John Givens started growing vegetables on one acre of land in 1980, and has been organic since Day One. Under the label Something Good, the farm also runs an extensive Community Supported Agriculture program (mixed home delivery box) in the Santa Barbara, Solvang, and Buellton communities.

Before life as a farmer, John Givens was an aerospace engineer. As his garden grew and his fresh fruits and vegetables became very popular at farmer’s markets, John decided farming was his true calling. Eventually, the garden required a full-time staff, more land, and evolved into the successful farm that it is today.

Because the farm is spread across several different plots of land, they work with different soil, altitude, growing strategies, and micro-climates. Some farmland is near the ocean, while other fields are inland and are suited for heat loving plants. Some plots even have a stream running through them. Having different growing conditions available permits year-round production during the mild coastal winters and has been a big part of John’s business strategy, which he sums up as “diversity.”

A true organic pioneer, John Givens is known as a creative agronomist and a gritty survivor. His family home was burned to the ground in the wildfire of 2018. The farm continued production and did not miss a beat.