By: Wendy Weitzel
For Irma Garcia and Saul Yanez, farming started as a trial. A friend offered them some Sacramento land to “practice” being farmers. It was 2018, and they wanted to see if they could be successful.
A year later, Yanez Farms was selling its produce at the Davis Farmers Market. By 2020, they had moved the farm to a larger plot of land in Davis. Today, they sell at all five markets run by the Davis Farmers Market Alliance: the Saturday and Wednesday Central Park markets, the UC Davis Farmers Market, and the Sutter Hospital markets in Davis and Sacramento.
Garcia said their vision is to buy their own land and run a full-fledged farm and ranch, with chickens, goats and horses to accompany their produce. Today, that bounty includes apricots, arugula, basil, beans, beets, brassica, cabbage, carrots, chard, cilantro, corn, cucumbers, eggplant, fennel, garlic, herbs, kale, leeks, lemons, lettuce, mandarins, melons, onions, peppers, pomegranates, potatoes, radishes, squash, strawberries, tomatoes and turnips.
They used to be known for their poinsettias during the holidays but the owner of the greenhouse they used retired. Today, their zucchini and various summer squashes are a hit. And “this is the first year we have a lot of tomatoes, and it’s going really good,” she said.
Although most of the farms that sell at the Davis Farmers Market come from a 100-mile radius of town, Garcia said they are one of the closest. Their 14-acre farm, off County Road 97 in Davis, includes 12 acres for various produce, and 2 acres of fruit trees, including mandarin oranges, lemons, apricots and pomegranates.
They still live in Sacramento, mostly because their children don’t want to change schools. Their son, Diego, is 13 and their daughter, Kenya, is 10.
Garcia said she and her husband really enjoy selling at the Davis Farmers Markets, meeting people who like to buy their produce.
“I can give them the quality of produce they are looking for, because it’s really local. It grows in Davis,” Garcia said.
She enjoys the community as well. “People say, ‘I like your produce and the things you bring to us.’ They make me feel happy, too, because I see that all the work in the field is working. I can make people happy with the food they take home.”
