Time to Get Your Tickets to Tour des Fleurs

Tour des Fleurs,  the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce & Visitors’ Bureau's annual greenhouse and farm tour, offers a once-a-year opportunity to tour the Coastside's local nurseries, working harbor,  and farms. 

The 22nd Annual Tour des Fleurs takes place this year on July 20, 2013, and now's the time to purchase advance tickets. There's limited availability on each tour, which sells out every year.

Tour des Fleurs invites visitors for a “behind the scenes” tour of local farm and greenhouse facilities and operations. Some will share helpful tips to pruning and caring for flowers, while others will share their key to an efficient operation whether it’s a nursery or farm, and some will share their colorful and fascinating family history and how it shaped their businesses today. 

This year, a wide variety of experiences are on the tour menu: special flower gardens, calla lilies, oceans of roses and hydrangeas, organic herbs and field greens, California native plants, a working dairy farm, grass fed livestock, a Coastal Farmer’s Market tour, Pillar Point Harbor and sustainable fishing, and an abundance of potted plants of every variety, and new this year, an Aquaponics farm.

Each tour package takes you to three different nurseries. You drive yourself to each nursery in your package and enjoy a one hour guided tour.  There are six different tour packages to choose from, and each tour package of three nurseries costs $20. 
Locations on the 2013 tour include:  
Tour A
10        Coastside Farmer’s Market
1          Markegard Farms
3          Yerba Buena Nursery / World’s Rare Plants – Carnivorous Plants
Tour B
10        Nurserymen’s Exchange (Rocket Farms)
1          Green Oaks Creek Farm
3          PIE Ranch
Tour C
10        Pillar Point Harbor
1          Yerba Buena Nursery / World’s Rare Plants – Carnivorous Plants
3         H. Pastorino & Son Company
Tour D
10        Johnston House
1          Harley Farms Goat Dairy
3         Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo  
Tour E
10        Harley Farms Goat Dairy
1          Ouroboros Farm
3         Echo Valley Farms
Tour F
10        Bay City Flower Company
1          Figone Nursery
3          Markegard Farms


Tickets will need to be presented at each tour. No substitutes allowed.  

 2013 Tour Locations:  
·       Bay City – This third generation family owned business is one of the largest Hydrangea growers and also one of the most efficient commercial potted plant growers in the nation.  They grow for high end commercial merchants such as Calyx Flowers and Red Envelope.  You can also find their potted flowers and plants under the label Hana Bay Flower in upscale garden centers.    
·       Coastside Farmer’s Market - John Muller, 2002 Farmer of the Year with 30 years experience, will tour you through our diverse Farmer’s Market complete with flowers, fruits, vegetables, fish, herbs, handmade crafts and soaps,  and much more from some of the most fertile farmland in the West.  This market is very locally focused and folks will meet a dozen Coastside Farmers in one fell swoop. Farmer John is a wealth of information and has represented American farmers on numerous governmental committees and water boards, and is the former Mayor of Half Moon Bay!  
·       Green Oaks Creek Farm & Retreat – Owner Stephanie Jennings will take you on a guided tour of her working organic farm which offers educational programs for children and adults.  
·       Harley Farms Goat Dairy – Harley Farms Goat Dairy, the home of 300 Alpine goats produces fresh award winning cheese daily in what is now the last remaining dairy farm in San Mateo Co.  
·       Jacobs Farm/Del Cabo – At this stunning certified organic farm in Pescadero, tour, touch and taste while learning about organic crop production. Begun in 1980, this original family farm site launched what has now become the nation’s largest grower/shipper of fine organic culinary herbs and edible flowers.
·       Nurserymen’s Exchange - Founded by Carl and Virginia Pearlstein more than 60 years ago, Nurserymen's Exchange has grown into one of America's leading Wholesale Home and Garden companies. Wholesale only, their BloomRite® brand includes blooming plants, tropical plants and foliage, bulbs and packaged shrubs. They also carry a complete line of home and garden designs.  
·       H. Pastorino & Son Company - Owner Hank Pastorino will guide you through hot houses and fields of flowers.  
·       Johnston House – Tour the historic James Johnston House, a classic New England Salt-box, circa 1853-55 built by a pioneer Scot for his Californiano bride, Petra de Jara.
·       Figone Nursery -   Louis Figone will tell you great stories about farming this beautiful land of rolling hills and ponds. They grow cut flowers including calla lilies, dahlias,  hydrangeas and sunflowers .  
·       PIE Ranch – Tour the historic Steele Ranch grounds and their diversified farm operation with fruit, vegetables, flowers, grains, beans, poultry, and livestock. The afternoon also coincides with their monthly community volunteer day, so people are welcome to stay and get their hands on a farm project, join in the evening potluck from 6-7 and barn dance from 7-10pm.(Dinner & barn dance option available)  
·       Yerba Buena Nursery – Newly located in downtown Half Moon Bay, Yerba Buena is noted for native plants and ferns. Their hot house tour is extremely informative with owner and tour guide, Kathy Crane giving you lots of tips on growing and natural bug eradication.  
·       Pillar Point Harbor – Enjoy a tour of a working harbor by a fisherman and learn about sustainable fishing practices. You can even buy fish right off the boat!  
·       Ouroboros Farm– Owner Ken Armstrong will show you how they blend Aquaculture (raising fish) and Hydroponics (growing in water) to produce incredibly pure, delicious produce, while using just a fraction of the resources required with other modern farming methods.  This Aquaponics Farm is the evolution of farming.
·       Markegard Ranch – Visit a 1000 acre coastal grass-fed ranch and learn how they raise and sell their beef, pork, lamb and laying hens.
·       World ‘s Rare Plants - Owners/Sisters Mary and Jan and their husbands will take you on a guided tour through our Carnivorous Plant nursery. We have carnivorous plants from around the world: Venus Fly Traps and Pitcher Plants from Southeastern United States, Sundews from Australia, Japan, Africa, and Brazil, Pinguiculas from Mexico and South America, and Nepenthes from the Tropics.  
·       Echo Valley Farms – This farm is truly magnificent with its beauty and charm. Located in a meadow surrounded by redwoods, this farm is an example of modern day sustainable farming.

For further information or to make reservations, please call the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors’ Bureau at (650) 726-8380 x100 or visit www.hmbchamber.com.