PESCADERO, Calif. — Ryan Casey is a first generation farmer whose interest was first piqued at the University of California-Santa Cruz when he took a course in agriculture.

“I began farming on the Pacific coast in 2005 for several reasons,” he said. “The area has great climate to grow a wide diversity of crops. It is also near a large population of customers with a desire to purchase local, organically grown products.”

Casey now grows more than 50 types of vegetables, berries and cut flowers on 70 acres.

Customers visit from all over the Bay Area to pick berries and other produce straight from the field. A rainbow of flowers is available May through October at markets, wholesale and special events.

The Blue House name comes from the first property Casey farmed. There was a big blue house right in the middle of the land, and the name stuck.

The farm specializes in high quality produce sold locally. He also sells at many farmers markets, local food stores, distributors and restaurants.

Blue House also has a farmstand and U-pick operation that are open on weekends year-round. U-pick strawberries are available April-October and pumpkins are available in October.

Casey sells his organic produce through a Foodwise cooperative farmers market in the Mission neighborhood of San Francisco.

“We’ve been pleased to have Blue House Farm be a part of the San Francisco Mission Community Market since the very beginning,” said Andrea Akers, associate director of operations at Foodwise.

“They have amazing employees as well as a great variety of produce, including beans, berries and veggies. Their strawberries are my favorite. They show up no matter what, and it’s great to work with a farm as dedicated as them.”

Organic Brussels sprouts are the hardest crop to grow, because they are vulnerable to pest pressure. Through a lot of trial-and-error he learned some tricks to produce high quality, marketable sprouts.

To grow Brussels sprouts he puts extra care into the soil by applying compost before planting, timely applications of organic pelleted fertilizer while the plant is growing and a combination of microbial-based insecticides and beneficial insect releases for pest control.

Although Casey enjoys success, he says there remains one overarching challenge to farmers.

“In my opinion, until customers are willing to pay more for their fruits and vegetables, farmers will continue to be squeezed by rising costs of doing business,” he said.