Phil Foster

Co-Owner, Pinnacle Organics

Phil Foster, through Pinnacle Organically Grown Produce, operates two ranches near San Juan Bautista and Hollister, California with his wife Katherine. They grow an average of 60 certified organic vegetables, melons and fruit a year on more than 250 acres, mostly cool season crops in San Juan Bautista and hot season crops in Hollister. The farm started out conventionally but Foster started experimenting with growing a few acres organically in 1989 and eventually moved into completely organic production because it proved to be a wise economic move. Phil Foster uses a combination of compost, cover cropping, crop rotation, low till machinery, and the planting of companion plants and hedgerows to encourage beneficial insects and pollinators.