That will change Saturday.
That’s the day the owners of participating local growers will swing those doors open wide for prearranged tours in the 17th annual Tour des Fleurs. Presented by the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors’ Bureau, it offers visitors a unique chance to see local nurseries and growers from the inside, and check out how they go about the daily business of growing their flowers, vegetables and plants.
 Courtesy Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors'€™ Bureau Talk of blooming flowers and how they'€™re grown, will dominate Tour des Fleurs this weekend. |
“Since agriculture is still a leading business in San Mateo County, it’s important for people to have a chance to get firsthand experience of what it takes to grow plants and take them to market,” said Kathy Crane, owner of Yerba Buena Nursery.
Located east of San Gregorio and noted for its native plants, flowing brook and circa-1905 farmhouse, Yerba Buena has been one of the nurseries on the Tour des Fleurs list for about 10 years, said Crane.
What she does on Tour des Fleurs is typical of what her fellow nursery owners are doing that day. She will greet visitors with talk about her business and its history since its early days as a cattle ranch, give them insights as to what it’s like to live in the turn-of-the-century farmhouse, and take them on a stroll through the hothouse, which is usually not open to the public, while she explains how she starts her native plants from seed and shows them the little seedlings.
“This is a good opportunity to let people know the growers that exist on the coast,” she said.
But hers is not the only type of agricultural business to be found across the Coastside on Tour des Fleurs, and for that matter, flowers aren’t the only things to be found.
There are large floral businesses like Nurserymen’s Exchange and H. Pastorino and Son. There are organic farms, ranches that depend on berries and goat cheese, specialty businesses that revolve around one type of nut or orchids, and growers that diversify and raise many types of produce and flowers.
Generally visitors to Tour des Fleurs are full of questions about growing concerns, and the growers take delight in answering them.
“We always have a lot of fun. It’s a good group of people,” said Jerry Anderson, co-owner of Chaine d’Or Vineyards.
The way the day works is simple: the 14 participating nurseries are arranged into packages of three. At the nurseries, the owners greet the visitors and conduct the tours, which begin promptly at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. respectively.
Participants sign up for their package of choice, and the tours are set up to take about an hour. Participants drive themselves from one nursery to the next, and the schedule accommodates travel time.
Tickets are $20 per person.
“This makes people aware of the farming community,” said Stan Pastorino, owner of T & E Pastorino, which produces cut flowers and roses. “We get to open the doors and show people how we do things, explain the history and trials and tribulations of and how the business changes.”
Keeping up with changes in the business climate will be a part of his talk, he said, as he plans to show visitors how he sterilizes soil.
“We just keep morphing, trying different things,” he said.
For more information, or to sign up, call the chamber at 726-8380.
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