Today we’d like to introduce you to Swallow Creek Ranch Kyla Grafton.
Hi Swallow Creek Ranch, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Nestled in the rolling hills of Cayucos and overlooking the Pacific Ocean is where you’ll find Swallow Creek Ranch. 617 acres of grazed ranch land is home to about 60 head of happy cattle, hundreds of nesting cliff swallows, a beautiful colony of Monarch butterflies, several species of raptors including golden eagles and great horned owls, coyotes, the occasional badger, a long list of additional wildlife, and the Waddell-Grafton Family.
I feel very fortunate to call the Central Coast and Swallow Creek Ranch home. My dad, Duane Waddell raised me on this ranch. He began running cattle here in the 1980’s, continuing the land’s long legacy of agricultural use. But Duane further executed his responsibility as steward of this land through restoration of Swallow Creek and the riparian area, planting 100s of trees on the ranch. He was also involved with the Cayucos Land Conservancy, which helped acquire the land that is now the Estero Bluffs State Park, directly across the highway from Swallow Creek Ranch.
My husband Paul and I were married on the ranch in 2004. We have expanded our love with our children, Odin and Trilby who we are raising to be stewards of this sacred land. After our own celebration of love we decided to transform part of the ranch into a wedding venue.
Jonna and Reid Kitchen, experienced property managers and lifelong friends, who attended our wedding long ago, now oversee the wedding venue as our site managers.
As a team, we draw from our backgrounds in biology, environmental education and natural resource management while incorporating our values of stewardship and environmental responsibility into our business models with the goal of becoming a zero waste facility. Here is how we try to achieve that in a traditionally wasteful industry:
1. No single use plastics allowed at events
2. We compost all of our food waste into soil which we use to enhance our on site food forest.
3. recycle
4. we require floral designers to use environmentally friendly bases in their arrangements and avoid the dreaded green foam
5. We do not allow florists to use invasive plant species like pampas grass
Additionally – we have
1. Obtained a Safe Harbor Agreement with the US Fish and Wildlife Service and work in conjunction to protect California Red-legged frogs and Western Pond Turtles, two species of special concern.
2.Fenced of the ranch’s riparian and serpentine areas to protect and enhance these sensitive habitats. 3. Propagate and plant seedlings from native plant species as a habitat and food source for our resident fauna
3. Erected dozen’s of barn owl, American Kestrel, Western BlueBird and wren boxes for additional habitat and natural pest control as well as bat boxes.
4. Encourage cliff swallow nesting 5. refrain from the use of pesticides and herbicides. We have nearly eradicated several species of invasive plants with shear will, close monitoring and understanding of the lifecycles of these species and muscle power!
4. Currently we are working directly with the groups like the National Audubon Society to become Audubon Ranch Certified and Xerces which will monitor the Monarch population that over winter here on the ranch.
5. We also gift the use of the venue to local charitable organizations: Pacific Wildlife Care, Marine Mammal Center, Morro Bay Audobon Society, and the Morro Bay Bird festival have all hosted events in our barn.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
There are always struggles in nature. Fires, Floods and drought have been some of our biggest teachers on the ranch. But our biggest obstacle was probably the bureaucratic monster known as the San Luis Obispo County Planning Department (ha ha!). When we first started with our vision of turning our 150 year old dairy barn into an event venue, we approached the county and were given a short list of requirements that we quickly and happily completed. However, about 5 years in we were approached by the County and told that we had to apply for a Conditional Use permit. This process had not been completed or even established by other Ag properties in the county (Vineyards are a whole different ball game) so we were at the forefront of this bureaucratic jungle hacking away with machetes to blaze the way forward for others. It took us several years and with the help of Jamie Kirk and her team at Kirk Consulting we finally complied with the steps that were literally being laid out as we guinea pigged our way towards the CUP.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
What sets us apart is that we are from this community. I was raised in Cayucos and my kids were born and raised in SLO County. The people we serve are our neighbors, our friends. WE love supporting local organizations. We are prod to be and take very seriously the responsibility to be stewards of this land that we are so very blessed to live on.
What matters most to you?
Being part of a community and using our resources to protect and help support this community and the land that we have so fortunate to call home. The ranch is a gathering place. We have clothing swaps that double as fundraisers for my daughter’s water polo team and at the same time gather clothes for the Estero Bay Kindness Coalition who will distribute to local families in need. We are a event site for the Morro Bay Bird Festival where my husband will get to share the amazing work he has done to enhance the bird habitat and where local falconer, Chris Cameron will bring his birds to demonstrate one of the world’s oldest practices. When the Marine Mammal Center had to close their doors in Morro Bay, we reached out to them to see how we could help. We will be storing some of their infrastructure as they prepare to move their massive and complicated set up to the new location. We host weekly yoga classes and monthly moon circles. We host weekly Man Kind Project circles where men can process and grow and go out into the world better versions of themselves. We are proud of our community and being part of it in these small ways is what matters.
Pricing:
- www.swallowcreekranch.com
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.swallowcreekranch.com
- Instagram: swallowcreekranch
- Facebook: SwallowCreekRanch
