POST appoints Jan Garrod to its board

Jan Garrod, general manager of Garrod Farms and Cooper-Garrod Estate Vineyards in Saratoga and president of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, has joined the Board of Directors at Peninsula Open Space Trust (POST).

Like generations of Garrods before him, Jan is highly involved in regional issues surrounding agriculture. In addition to his leadership of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, he is founder and water master for Mount Eden Mutual Water Company, member of the agricultural advisory board of the Santa Clara Valley Water District, and active with numerous equestrian and vintners associations.

Garrod brings to POST his extensive background in agriculture and a long family history in the South Bay. His great-grandparents emigrated from England to Campbell, Calif., in 1892, and a year later bought farmland in neighboring Saratoga. His grandfather, Ralph Vincent (R.V.), helped establish Garrod Farms and became a state leader in agriculture, serving as chairman of the board of Farmers Insurance.

Garrod’s father, Vince, carried on the family farm, first raising prune plums and apricots, then shifting the business to stables and riding in the 1950s. Vince became a leader in local land conservation, arranging a bargain sale of 120 acres of Garrod Farms to Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District in 1980. Vince served as a member of POST’s Board of Directors from 1983 until 2005 and continues to serve as a member of POST’s Advisory Council.

Jan grew up at Garrod Farms and now manages the 120-acre operation, including the vineyard he started with his uncle, George Cooper, in the 1970s. An additional part of the family’s holdings is 1500-acre Bird Flat Ranch, in Lassen County, which has a cow-calf operation and provides hay for Garrod Farms’ horses.

"Jan brings an enormous measure of practical experience to our Board of Directors," said POST President Audrey Rust. "He lives with issues facing all Santa Clara County farmers and, as president of the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau, he is in touch with these issues in a more formal way. At home he has had to tailor his agricultural pursuits to fit the needs of the highly urbanized culture surrounding the family farm. It pleases me greatly to have another visionary thinker from the Garrod family on our Board."

"I’ve seen the changes over time in Silicon Valley, the slow erosion of our agricultural heritage and the encroaching development on our hillsides that threatens to change the natural landscape of this region," said Garrod. "It’s important to save these aspects of life in our valley, to give local farms a fair shot at survival while protecting the quality of life we have here. POST has always worked hard to maintain that balance, and I’m pleased to be part of that effort."

  The equestrian facilities at Garrod Farms house 200 horses, some boarded, others available as rentals for lessons or trail rides. The property is also home to a world-class equestrian vaulting program. Under Jan’s watch, the winery has developed into a major destination along the Santa Cruz Mountain wine road, producing chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, syrah, viognier and pinot noir.