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Fresh From Our Farmers: Strawberry Stand in West Santa Rosa

Wednesday, at 3:28 by

I didn’t expect the aroma of onions as I stepped out of my car at Lao Saetern’s strawberry stand on Highway 12 between Santa Rosa and Sebastopol but that is just what enveloped me as I breathed in the cool spring air. At that moment, there were nothing but bright red strawberries on the stand’s counter but within a minute or two, a young woman began piling bunches of glistening red onions, peeled and trimmed, on one side of the… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sonrisa Family Farms

Wednesday, at 6:58 by

Everything at Sonrisa Family Farm in Petaluma seems to radiate with an inner glow, a sense of purpose, of intention and of beauty. The first word that came to mind as farmer Lisa Colorado lead me around the five acres where she and her husband have lived for more than a decade was “adorable.” This is not to suggest the farm is not a serious endeavor; it absolutely is. But there are sweet embellishment everywhere, from the way tile stepping… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Paul’s Produce

Friday, at 12:12 by

When you bite into a carrot grown by Paul Wirtz , it is almost impossible not to smile. His carrots have snap– a pristine clarity on the palate–along with an earthy sweetness that is not as easy to find as it should be. These are carrots I can easily munch for breakfast. That pristine quality threads through much of Wirtz’s harvest. His foods are bright, with true flavor and perfect texture.  He is a fine fine farmer, with a bit of… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Preston Farms

Friday, at 12:06 by

Lou and Susan Preston have been making wine in Dry Creek Valley since the early 1970s but their gorgeous estate, nestled near the northwest corner of Dry Creek Valley, is much more than a vineyard and winery. It is a farm, a ranch, an orchard, a farm store, a bakery and more. It has grown, bit by bit, into a compelling expression of glorious diversity, as grapes have taken their place alongside other, equally important, crops. This year, Preston Farms… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sonoma’s The Patch

Friday, at 11:44 by

For years, The Patch has been the first local farm with tomatoes. Lazaro Calderon’s booths at local farmers markets appear sometime in April, when he has some of the best-tasting Nantes carrots around, and the race is on. By mid-May, customers are asking when he expects to have the first of his widely praised tomatoes. “Soon,” he says with a smile, “maybe in a couple of weeks.” The first usually appear sometime in June. Calderon typically has tomatoes longer than… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Sebastopol Berry Farm

Friday, at 4:14 by

As days shorten and evenings turn cold, there’s a sense of dismay among those of us who eat seasonally: Summer fruit is over, we sigh. But not to worry, not yet. Gravensteins may be gone and peaches, plums and nectarines are winding down, but there are plenty of melons, grapes, pears, and raspberries and likely will be for several weeks. “We’ll have raspberries until the first hard frost,” Gloria Vigil of Sebastopol Berry Farm says, adding that such a freeze… Read More »

Tell Me Yours, I’ll Tell You Mine

Friday, at 2:23 by

Tomatoes are glorious this year. They arrived earlier than many of us anticipated and they are lingering deliciously at their peak flavor. Tomorow, there’s one more chance to sample a wide range of heirloom varieties for free at the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, the one in the southeast parking lot of the Wells Fargo Center for the Arts. Have you found a favorite heirloom variety this year? If so, please tell us something about it in the comments… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Hector’s Honey Farm

Sunday, at 8:00 by

Hector Alvarez of Hector’s Honey Farm just may be the James Brown of local agriculture. Granted, he doesn’t sport a satin cape or fall to his knees in faux heartbreak. But when you look at his schedule–nine farmers markets a week at the height of the season–it’s hard to argue that he’s not the hardest working man in farming. Although Alvarez is best known for his award-winning honeys, honeycomb and bees wax candles, he has been growing produce, as well,… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Redwood Empire Farm

Sunday, at 7:46 by

For eight years, Jeff Russell has farmed in east Santa Rosa, on Rincon Valley land purchased decades ago by his great aunt. Today, fruit trees–including French prune plums–planted more than a hundred years ago and likely purchased directly from Luther Burbank are still productive. Russell chose Redwood Empire Farm as a name that embraced this region’s history. In 2007 Ariel Dillon, who grew up on a farm west of Petaluma, joined Russell in his farming endeavor. Dillon and Russell married… Read More »

Fresh From Our Farmers: Tierra Vegetables

Sunday, at 7:35 by

Although you wouldn’t realize it by looking at the wooden boxes and bins filled with colorful chiles, cucumbers and eggplant, Tierra Vegetables hasn’t yet hit its 2012 stride. The peak of its harvest is still about three weeks away. “This is due to colder than normal night temperatures about a month ago,” Evie Truxaw, wife of farmer Wayne James, explains. Even with the delay, the current harvest is bountiful: There are Sungold cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, tomatillos, Globe and Japanese… Read More »