The Reach for the Pie! campaign represents an extraordinary opportunity for Pie Ranch to expand the reach and impact of our youth-centered food system education programs through the purchase and restoration of historic Isaac Steele Ranch.

Directly west of Pie Ranch and fronting Highway 1, the Steele Ranch is a nationally registered landmark, dating back to the early 1860s. The 13-acre property in the Bay Area’s coastal backyard features several historic buildings as well as five acres of fertile soil and eight acres of surrounding riverbank habitat and coastal landscape. As if made to order, the footprint of the Steele Ranch farmstead is also shaped like a piece of pie.

Key Campaign Objectives

• Restore and preserve the historic Isaac Steele Ranch, an important piece of California’s agricultural heritage.
• Re-purpose a former private residence to serve as a public education center and productive farmstead with a teachable landscape, classrooms, a library dedicated to sustainable agriculture, a functional teaching kitchen and conference space for students, colleagues and visitors.
• Increase the number and depth of opportunities available to school groups and apprentices who want to learn about sustainable farming and healthy food system principles.
• Create a unique community-gathering place that restores all who visit through bringing them into direct contact with one another and the earth that feeds us all.
• Raise Pie Ranch’s capacity and profile as a replicable model for sustainable farming and food system education.
• Strengthen Pie Ranch’s base of philanthropic support for its exceptional youth-centered programs.
• Make a direct, positive impact on thousands of people in communities around the Bay Area – and beyond – for generations to come

Reaching for Our Second Slice. In 2006, Pie Ranch’s visionary founders engaged the Peninsula Open Space Trust to step in as temporary owner of the Steele Ranch. This strategic partnership has saved the site from development while Pie Ranch built its capacity and enlisted community leaders for the Reach for the Pie! capital campaign to acquire and revitalize this historic dairy farm. Pie Ranch is uniquely qualified to permanently protect and preserve the Steele Ranch as a working farm for public educational purposes. As part of the purchase agreement, Pie Ranch has already assumed responsibility for the use, maintenance and stewardship of the property now owned by POST.

Boosting Our Yield. A successful campaign will put this historic farmstead back to work as the Isaac Steele family intended. Campaign investments will yield new generations of conscious consumers, able teachers and thoughtful farmers. Pie Ranch will protect and preserve agricultural land, wilderness, and the broader coastal environment for many generations to come.  And the farm will produce healthy and delicious fruits, vegetables, eggs, dairy products, and everybody’s favorite… signature Pie Ranch pies.

Make a Donation
We are grateful to the Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF) for serving as our fiscal sponsor while we wait for non-profit status to be granted. Make an on-line donation to Pie Ranch through RSF, and select “Green Oaks Agricultural Trust/Pie Ranch” in the designation drop down menu.

If you prefer to send a donation in the mail, make your check payable to RSF Social Finance. On the memo line of your check, please write “Green Oaks Fund,” designate CAPITAL or PROGRAM support if you choose to be specific, and mail your donation to us at Pie Ranch, PO Box 138 Davenport, CA 95017.

Thank you!

The History of Steele Ranch

[Adapted from The Natural History of Año Nuevo, Le Boeuf and Kaza, Eds. 1981].

The parcel is situated in an area rich in natural & cultural history. From the mating grounds of elephant seals, to the fresh water streams where salmon run, the area is known for its diversity of habitats for animal, bird and plant species. For thousands of years the rich resources of the Año Nuevo region sustained one of the largest Native American communities in the Monterey Bay region. Knowledge of their culture comes to us from early travelers, Spanish missionaries, settlers in the area, and artifacts which can still be found today at old village sites.

In 1861, Isaac Steele rented a horse in San Francisco and rode south to Rancho Punta del Año Nuevo, searching for lands to expand his family’s dairy operation. On first look, he proclaimed the area “cow heaven” and immediately arranged for a ten year lease with an option to buy the southern portion of the rancho. It must have been love at first sight, for there was never any question that the Steeles would take up the option to buy. Isaac immediately began building his home at Green Oaks Creek and moved into it in 1862. Catherine B. Steele, Isaac’s granddaughter inherited the property after Isaac’s death in 1903. It wasn’t until 1981 that the land was sold and held until now. With initial help from the Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST), the land has been removed from the speculative market. POST has empowered Pie Ranch to launch a capital campaign to permanently protect the site.