History + Harvest in the Santa Rita Hills

Hibbits Grove, courtesy Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

Hibbits Grove, courtesy Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

Hosted by the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County on July 27 from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m., this excursion starts with a private, docent led tour through the grounds of La Purisima Mission. Founded in 1787, there is much to learn about its history, community, restoration, and preservation—a treasure not to be missed!

After the tour, you’ll go to Hibbits Family Ranch, less than one mile west of the Mission, for a farm to table lunch including a sample of Hibbits’ walnuts and wines and a talk about local walnut harvesting by Ranch owner, Art Hibbits. You will wrap up the afternoon with a casual walk through the orchards and vineyards with exceptional views of the valley.

The Hibbits family, long standing advocates for local agriculture, decided to protect the scenic and agricultural value of their land through a voluntary conservation agreement with the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County. The Hibbits Ranch is the largest single landholding within a 2000-acre block of fertile farmland bordered by the City of Lompoc, La Purisima Mission State Historic Park, the Santa Ynez River and Santa Rosa Hills.

La Purisima Mission is located at 2295 Purisima Rd., Lompoc.

About the Land Trust for Santa Barbara County

Since 1985, The Land Trust has worked with willing landowners, public and private grant agencies and other community organizations to protect, restore and manage open space, wildlife habitat and agricultural land in Santa Barbara County by:

• Acquiring land and conservation easements through negotiation with willing private property owners, through charitable donation and purchase.
• Creating conservation plans, restoration projects and incentives for landowners. Raising private donations and grants from government, foundations and  corporations to support land conservation.
• Promoting the preservation, stewardship and restoration of wildlife habitat and watershed resources on the land we protect.
• Educating both children and adults about ecology, agriculture and conservation through programs and events at Land Trust preserves. To date, The Land Trust has protected 23,000 acres of land and has completed or is underway on close to twenty habitat restoration, open space and trail projects.

Originally published in Santa Barbara SEASONS on July 23, 2014.