Everything Must Go: Final Ishibashi Farm Sale Ends a 60-Year Legacy

By Felicia Friesema Mon., Mar. 5 2012 at 3:03 PM

Iceland poppies for sale last year at the Tom T. Ishibashi farm stand in Torrance.

Writing about the closure of a farm within city limits has echoes of microfiche readings from the 1920s when L.A. invented the suburbia that swallowed up our giant orange groves. One farm -- the Tom T. Ishibashi Farm in Torrance -- had managed to survive the evolution from rural to urban until now, and has the sad distinction of being the last in a long string of farms in an urban area that have ceased to be.

Tom Ishibashi passed away in May 2011, so the dimming of the legacy of his Torrance farm wasn't entirely unexpected. This particular family farm thrived for over 60 years, though the Ishibashi family has been working the land in and around the Bay Cities since the early 1900s. That's a long time to collect the accouterments of farm life -- farm equipment and heavy machinery, packing materials, retail displays, and the various contents of the agricultural tack room.

If you're in need of some well-used and well-loved farm tools for your own agricultural endeavors, be it backyard or barnyard, or if you simply want a piece of the L.A. area's long and storied agricultural history, the Ishibashis are having a final farm sale: on Saturday, March 10, 8 a.m., at the stand at 24955 Crenshaw Boulevard in Torrance. Bid the stand a final farewell and offer up an Icelandic poppy tribute to the farm's legacy; LA Farm Girl, a.k.a. Judi Gerber, says the poppies always graced the stand every March.

Tags:

farm sale, Felicia Friesema, Ishibashi farm stand, Judi Gerber, LA Farm Girl, Tom Ishibashi, Torrance

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LAFarmGirl

As heartbroken as I am that my friend Tom is gone and that there's nobody to take over, I appreciate you writing about the sale and publicizing it. I hope they get a good turnout to give him a grand, final farewell.

Inside222

Why don't they continue on with the farm? Was there pressure from the airport to sell? Seems like such a waste of fertile land to just give it up or to sell it. I'm sure that somebody would keep it going if they had the opportunity to buy it.

LAFarmGirl

That is a good question, somebody needs to ask the City of Torrance that question. I haven't gotten an answer yet. And yes, I hear there are people who would like to farm on that land. They don't own it, it is leased from City and there are also FAA regulations to deal with.

Felicia

Thanks for the heads up, Judi. My condolences on your loss.

LAFarmGirl

Thanks Felicia. I see it as the community's loss, generations of people in the South Bay have bought farm fresh produce from the Ishibashi family. There is no way to quantify what they have given to our community.