Trabia Farms and Our Family
Our Farm
Located on a hilltop in the Templeton Gap of California's central coast, our farm is graced with beautiful views, abundant water, and a mild Mediterranean climate. Using organic, biodynamic farming practices, we grow over 4,700 Koroneiki, Arbequina, and Tuscan olive trees, heirloom fruit trees, specialty herbs, flowers, and a Rainbow Garden of fruits and vegetables. Our farm is also home to therapy horses, Silician donkeys, and chickens.
The unique combination of climate, soil and water give rich and unique flavors to Trabia olives, fruits, and vegetables. Our farming practices reflect our commitment to preserving these resources.
Trabia Farms is a private, commercial olive farm that also provides space and facilities for the private clients of Atypical Place, a non-profit that provides educational and vocational programs for adults and children with cognitive disabilities. Proceeds from the farm programs benefit Atypical Place. Atypical Place's programs also support local communities by donating farm products to local food banks and hospitals.
Trabia Farms is not open to the general public. To taste Trabia products, please visit one of our festival booths or contact us.
Finding the Right Place
When Farmer Ben came upon a sun-drenched meadow on a steep hilltop, surrounded by shady vales of oaks, with vineyards and valley towns stretching out below, he knew he had found the right site for Trabia Farms. He felt an incredible sense of well-being and a calling to nurture and share this special place.
But Trabia Farms beautiful setting isolates it from the major groundwater sources that provide for the surrounding area. While planting the first orchard, the old well went dry. The Farm would fail unless new water could be found. Despair grew as Tom, the local water witcher, and Ben crisscrossed the farm. The rods remained still. Finally, back at the exact spot where Ben had felt connected to the land, the rods crossed! Trabia's new well flows abundantly, assuring that Trabia's orchards and crops will be sustained for many years to come.
Our Family
Trabia Farms captures our family farming heritage going back to our roots in Trabia, Sicily almost a century ago. Our family has been providing fine produce and farm fresh products to customers for over a century. Back in 1883, Grandfather John "Nanu" Piazza was born in Trabia, Sicily. He married Petrina "Nana" and began to raise a family: Anthony, Rose, Nicholas, John II, Santina, and Josephine. Nanu grew olives, figs, and other fruits. He pressed olives for olive oil and milled his way to quickly become one of the finest olive oil providers in the Palermo region.
In 1933, the family immigrated to San Francisco, California. After WWII, the family started up a corner grocery store and a Christmas tree lot. From those beginnings, Grandfather John, Uncle Tony, and Uncle Nicky moved on to raising fruit trees in Suisun, California. By the 1960's, Piazza Brothers' Fruit Drying Yard was the largest in California. Uncle John stayed in the grocery business, building Piazza Fine Foods, a premier independent grocery store, with his three sons.
Now, the third generation is carrying on the family traditions. Cousins John III, Gary, and Rick continue with Piazza Fine Foods, with stores in Palo Alto and Menlo Park, California. Cousin Pat and her children grow specialty organic vegetables and lettuces in Aptos, California. Ben returned to farming by establishing Trabia Farms in 2000.
