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Red Gate Ranch: Authentic, Farm-Fresh Organic Products

To say that Audrey Pascone and Heather Austin are passionate about organic farming is an understatement. After embracing a healthier, organic diet and experiencing its positive impact firsthand, the two women uprooted their Bay Area lives to found an organic farm in Red Bluff, California. We met with Heather and Audrey to learn about the story behind Red Gate Ranch.

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Farming – the simple life?

Aerial View of Red Bluff in Tehama County

Heather and Audrey’s first step towards farming was obvious: they needed to find the right piece of land. After searching a large swath of the state – from the Oregon border to Central California – Heather and Audrey ultimately settled on a 110-acre parcel in Red Bluff.

Situated towards the northern end of the Central Valley, the land and the location seemed ideal. Audrey recalls, “Red Gate Ranch just kind of checked off all the boxes of what we were looking for. It had water, proximity to a major freeway, proximity to the Bay Area, which is where we thought we were gonna be selling most of our products.”

The original plan was to raise pastured pork and grass-fed and finished beef, which they would sell at Bay Area farmers markets. However, Heather and Audrey quickly pivoted to include organic produce in their business plan. Audrey explains, “After some time here, we realized a couple of things. Meats alone were not going to be what supported our ranch long term, and there was a huge gap in certified organic produce at local farmers markets. It became clear to us that we needed to fill this need for the community.”

Passion in spades. Experience…not so much

Audrey Pascone walking through one of the shade structures at Red Gate Ranch

Walking through the farm and taking in the tidy, flower-lined rows and well thought-out shade structures, one might assume that Audrey and Heather had spent their whole lives farming. However, when they first moved to Red Bluff, neither woman had a lick of farming experience under their belt.

Audrey admits, “Becoming farmers was definitely a challenge because we had to teach ourselves everything along the way. We sought out different internship opportunities and volunteered at different farms. We read a lot of books, and watched a lot of YouTube videos. There’s a lot that has to be done. It takes pretty much every skill imaginable to be a good farmer.”

Meeting the demand for organic produce and meats

Today, with almost 15 years of experience, Red Gate Ranch is a beloved part of the local community. They raise pastured pork and grass-fed beef, in addition to a wide variety of certified organic fruit and vegetables. When asked to share a few examples of the early summer items currently in season, Audrey rattled off an impressive list, stating, “Some of the things that you might find here at Red Gate Ranch would be garlic, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, melons, lettuce, arugula, kale, Swiss chard and Mesclun Mix is a new one that we’re gonna be trying.”

Gallery of some of the crops grown at Red Gate Ranch in Red Bluff

To help meet the community’s demand for certified organic produce and meats, they host a seasonal onsite farmstand on Wednesday afternoons, attend the Redding Farmers Market and offer a weekly CSA box.

Why is organic certification important?

Many California farmers embrace organic practices without pursuing certification. At Red Gate Ranch, they believe that having their produce and meat CCOF certified adds an additional layer of transparency and accountability that the customer craves. Heather explains, “One of the things that we noticed before we got into farming is that I would ask farmers if they were organic. You would always just get ‘yes, we’re organic and we don’t spray’, but there’s so much more to it than just that. I really preferred the farms that would give us more explanation about how they farmed organically. For us, being certified organic wasn’t really important to us until we realized that it was an integrity piece that we really valued.”

Audrey believes that organic certification helps to create trust between farmers and consumers. She adds, “By having this other party come out and look at the things that we’re doing, we’re able to tell our customers, ‘no, we really do these things that we say that we do, and we really don’t do the things that we say that we don’t do’. It’s really valuable for the customer.”

Fresh food shouldn’t be dirt cheap

Organic food is not cheap, but Audrey firmly believes that you get what you pay for – and that responsibly farmed, clean produce and meats are worth the extra cost.

She states, “Some customers will ask us why organic food is so expensive. We believe that a thing is only expensive in the absence of value. If you don’t understand the value that regenerative farming and organic food bring to your community, your environment, and your body, then it can certainly seem that the food is more expensive. Regenerative farming has been found to cost the farmer 30% more than conventional agriculture.” She shakes her head and says with a wary grin, “I would love customers to understand that we try to keep prices very realistic, but food shouldn’t be dirt cheap. Food should be something that we’re willing to invest in and vote with our dollar.”

Educating the community

Heather and Audrey use weekly farmers markets – and even their CSA box – to share how changing their diets changed their own lives and to communicate the value of organic food. Audrey says, “We share recipes, storage tips and our own stories – my ranch partners have a really powerful story about how changing their diet has impacted their health. People who join our CSA receive a weekly email telling them what to expect in their share, but we also add Nourished Corner, which is a page about some aspect of healthy living or healthy foods.” Audrey flashes a genuine smile and declares, “Our passion for good food started probably 15 years before we started farming. Our customers love coming and talking to us, and we love sharing all of our stories and recipes with them, too.”