Berkeley Farmers’ Markets
Dirty Girl Produce
Farmer: Joe Schirmer
Location: Watsonville, Santa Cruz County, CA
Miles from Berkeley: 70 miles
Organic Certification: Certified Organic by CCOF since 1998
Season: Year-round
Products: Mixed vegetables including radicchios, shallots, haricot verts, flat beans, tomatoes, and strawberries
Dirty Girl Produce was founded in 1995 on a small piece of land in Santa Cruz. Joe Schirmer started working for the farm in 1997 after completing the UCSC Farm and Garden Program and working on other farms. Joe purchased Dirty Girl Produce in 1999, and has since expanded the business from 3 to 32 acres, adding new crops like strawberries and dry-farmed Early Girl tomatoes.
Dirty Girl Produce farms on two pieces of land in Watsonville. Crops rotate between the two locations as they are both suited for the wide variety of produce that Joe grows. Dirty Girl sells to over a hundred restaurants in the Bay area and sells at 5 farmers markets a week. Joe is active in the farmers’ market community as a board member for SCCFM (Santa Cruz Community Farmers’ Markets).
