Sacred Paths Farm

Our farm begun in the late 1960’s by Dorthea  and Harold Engstrom, my grandparents. Their story began when they met in the late 1920’s in college, where they both finished their degree in forestry from the University of Minnesota. Dorthea was one of the very first women in the country to receive a degree in forestry. They both had high ideals of conservation, shaped by the likes of Aldo Leopold (their professor at the University). They lived in Southern California on a USDA farm where they started a family with 2 sons. Harold, working for the Forest Service was re-stationed in Burlingam where they had a 3rd child, a daughter. In the 1958, Harold traveled to Camino, California to work on establishing the Federal Nursery, that is still operating today. After falling in love with the area, Harold decided to move his family to the beautiful foothills of Camino.

With a long and interesting career, Harold retired from the Forestry. He used his experience and knowledge to plant a Christmas Tree Plantation. With the help of their son, Bruce, they cleared and existing pear orchard and started Santa’s Acres. Harold also planted a small patch of mountain redwoods (Sequoia Gigantia) and American Sweet Gum (Liquid Amber) intermittently throughout the 12 acres, creating a beautiful display of fall colors.

I grew up working on the Christmas Tree Farm. I remember Christmas season was a family affair. One of my first jobs was taking care of the haystacks. My brother, Marc and I would gather the haystacks and pile them together for a place for the children to play. I have fond memories of Marc and I helping customers cut their trees and carry them back to the sales area. As I look back we have had generations of families come back every year for their family tradition.

Nearly 15 years after the beginning of Santa’s Acres, Harold passed away. Dorthea with the help of her son, Bruce and her daughter, Nancy, helped in the transition to keep the farm running. Distance separated the children, now raising their own families and Dorothea managed the farm alone. I came up on weekends while still in high school to assist her in any way that I could. I continued planting trees and doing the maintenance for years, while I lived in Placerville. Our family has always come back together during Christmas season to help at the farm.

Nearly 10 years ago, I came back to the farm for Dorthea needed more assistance. Dorthea made me a partner and the manager of Santa’s Acres. It was my honor and privilege to work with Dorthea. It was always Dorthea’s dream to keep the farm in the family.

As Dorthea was reaching her mid 90’s, my mom, Nancy, moved back to the farm to retire and look after her mother. I was taking full responsibility for the upkeep of the Christmas Tree Plantation while I helped my mom build her house. It was rewarding to have three generations on the family farm again.

Also at that time, I asked the love of my life, Stephanie, to move onto the farm with me. We both have a love and passion for gardening and agriculture. This love we share brought great joy to my grandmother. Our family grew with our marriage and birth of our son Savan. With two beautiful daughters, Althea and Charis, and two amazing sons, Elijah and Savan, my wife Stephanie and I have great hopes for the future.

With the passing of Dorthea at the age of 98, a new chapter on our family farm began. Santa’s Acres closed forever and Sacred Paths Farm was born. Our vision is to provide organic food and herbs to the people of our community. The love of the land guides us in our work to help create a sustainable community that our childrens’ children will be proud of.