Brother, sister took over farm from retiring father
Published in the June 8 – 21, 2016 issue of Morgan Hill Life
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE VIDEO OF THE GRASS FARM
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Marty Cheek
From left to right Debbie Barncord, Enrique Polanco, Mario Maldonado, Javier Zarate and Godofredo Delgado-Soto in front of a field of sod.
Erin Gil and Debbie Barncord have farming in their blood. The brother and sister owners of The Grass Farm both graduated with degrees in business, worked for some time in the corporate world, then returned to their roots. Now the two operate the business their father started in 1969.
“We came to see if we’d like it,” Barncord said. “Erin started in sales, I started in customer service and we both decided we really like the industry. We both tried cubicles and realized we wanted to be here.” Their “office” consists of acres and acres of sod and dirt (ready for planting) on Palm Avenue in Coyote Valley north of Morgan Hill.
In addition to The Grass Farm, which sells sod to commercial landscapes and homeowners, they opened Garden Accents in Gilroy in 2002 that Barncord calls a destination for all who love gardening. They also hold classes and sponsor events. The subsurface irrigation classes have been the most popular, and they also hold fun events like patio fairs to teach people new and exciting things to do in their garden.
“We complement each other,” she said. “We have everything for your outdoor oasis from sod to seed to fertilizer to pottery.”
The company is constantly testing different varieties of grass to find the ones that work best for customers and the environment. On one acre at Garden Accents they are testing eight different varieties. If they find one they like, they’ll put it into production.
“A lot of people really enjoy the sod for their animals or for children and we are constantly looking for and testing different varieties to find what is best,” Barncord said.
During the drought, the siblings had to make hard decisions. They looked at the cost of leasing more expensive land in Santa Clara County where they’ve been for a long time and have great relationships with landlords. So, do they move to San Benito County or rotate crops?
“We didn’t want to contract and we really like it here so we didn’t want to move,” she said. “We are close to our customers. So we decided to plant peppers, but it just didn’t fit our business profile. After our pumpkins ripen in October, we’ll go back to sod.”
The public is catching on. “People are using subsurface irrigation and learning how to water lawns more efficiently,” she said. “I think that’s catching on and people are learning.”
Sod is the company’s bread and butter. To grow it, they disc the field, then put down the seeds then a biodegradable netting is laid across the field. It takes four to six months and when ready, it is cut in nine-square-foot rolls with a tractor using lasers to slice grass.
The siblings believe in giving back. Gil is the current president of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, following in his father’s footsteps. They also help out pony baseball in town by replacing sod on the ball fields.
The Grass Farm and Garden Accents
Location: Grass Farm – 602 Palm Ave.
Hours: 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Friday
Contact: (408) 463-0500 or visit www.grassfarm.com
Location: Garden Accents, 11155 Lena Ave., Gilroy
Hours: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday
Contact: (408) 846-4555 or visit www.garden-accents.net
