Farmer's Markets – Open (Six Foot Rule)!

With so many venues and activities shut down and canceled, the highlight of the week is a trip to the grocery store! My husband and I gear up for early morning shopping with bandanas and our shared electronic grocery list, and tackle the task. We each have our specialty areas, and both are on the lookout for certain scarce items (we finally learned where to purchase rationed hand sanitizer).

Grocery stores have adapted to the situation with new strategies for crowd management, keeping the shelves fairly well stocked, and protecting checkers and baggers from customers with clear divider panels. They've also found ways to support the six-foot rule, by limiting store entrance to small batches of shoppers, establishing one-way shopping aisles, and marking off six-foot intervals at the check-out line.

Farmer's market in Montclair

Farmer's markets are still open, and also hold to the six-foot rule. The one in Montclair is much smaller than usual, but doing a thriving business in artisan breads, nuts, and beautiful produce. Other businesses are still open, such as Colonial Bakery and the EM Deli and Catering market (yes, donuts and rice are essential). A variation on the farmer's market is signing up for a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) subscription, and having seasonal fruits and vegetables delivered. Grocery stores are convenient for one-stop shopping, but I also like to support our local farmers and businesses as much as possible.

Stay safe everyone, and look for ways to meet the challenges of the pandemic – six feet apart!

Oak Hill Farm

I spent a fabulous morning touring Oak Hill Farm in Sonoma County. About 15 of us gathered at the Red Barn off Sonoma Highway at 10:00 a.m., then David Cooper, the farm manager, lead us on a tour of the historic farm’s barn, greenhouse, orchard, and fields. Cooper has degrees in chemical engineering, but decided being stuck in an office was not for him. He's been a farm manager for about four years now.

David Cooper leads the tour	Beehives on the hill
Basil, melon, sweet potato, squash	The barn

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The farm is beautifully situated – surrounded with oak and mixed evergreen forest. We learned about the farm’s organic and sustainable farming methods, which have been in place since the 1950s when the owners purchased the farm. They grow a whole array of fruits and vegetables, rather than planting a single crop. They practice crop rotation, plant cover crops to enrich and protect the soil between plantings, and allow a beekeeper to keep beehives on the property (honey for him, pollinators for Oak Hill Farm). The property is alive with bees and birds (and gets its share of pests in the form of deer, crows, squirrels, and gophers).

The produce is sold directly to several restaurants in San Francisco, at Farmers’ Markets (Ferry Terminal and Jack London Village), through CSA subscriptions, and at the Red Barn on the property. The tour is offered the first Saturday of the month. It is a great opportunity to see a farm in operation, and spend some time surrounded by beauty, growing things, and the natural world. To learn more: http://www.oakhillfarm.net/.

Planning a Farm Trail Adventure

I love an expedition, and Sonoma County Farm Trails offers eight of them. Download their Map and Guide PDF from the Farm Trails web site, and start planning: http://www.farmtrails.org/map-guide/. Pick a region, pick a vendor, or pick a product, and go from there.

The Sonoma Valley region looks inviting (and close – around 56 miles from us). It is also known as  the Valley of the Moon, and is close to the ruins of Jack London’s Wolf House. I see several interesting options – an alpaca ranch, several wineries, a farm that offers a tour the first Saturday of the month, another farm that sells heirloom tomatoes at a roadside stand, and an artisan cheese manufacturer.

Goat herd resting in the heat of the day

Searching through the vendor descriptions, I learn more about what they offer – weaving and spinning supplies, CSA subscriptions, puppies, farm stays, eggs, herbs, honey, wreathes, soap, and so on. I could easily shop for the week, and start my Christmas shopping early. And this is just one of the eight regions!

Farm Trails

Sonoma County Farm Trails is a great resource for finding locally grown produce and artisan products close to the San Francisco Bay Area. Farm Trails is a non-profit organization that started in 1973 to provide a way for local farmers to market directly to customers. Over the years their vision has expanded to promoting and preserving sustainable and diverse agriculture in Sonoma County, which is 100 miles north of San Francisco.

Sonoma County Farm Trails logo

The organization represents farming, animal husbandry, cheese manufacturing, wine, flowers, herbs, fiber and a host of artisan products. Many of the farms offer CSA subscriptions, road-side stands, and on-site tours. Most have an online presence through web sites, blogs, and email.

Several events are associated with Farm Trails, including plant sales, fund raising events, the Gravenstein Apple Fair, Weekend Along the Farm Trails, and educational venues. The organization publishes a guide, which enables you to locate and contact growers. This is a great way to locate and purchase products and produce right from the source, support local business, and support local, sustainable agriculture. To learn more: www.farmtrails.org/.

Community Supported Agriculture

While learning more about urban farming in the San Francisco Bay Area, I kept reading about Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), and CSA plans. That made me curious to know more.

CSAs provide a way for consumers to buy local, seasonal food from a farmer. Typically a farmer works out a plan with stakeholders describing what the farmer plans to grow.  The farmer offers “shares” of produce to the “shareholders.” A share may be a box of fruits and vegetables once a week. Shareholders subscribe in advance and receive their share. Farmers are paid in advance based on the subscriptions. Shareholders share in the benefits of fresh produce, as well as the risks associated with farming.

Photo by Madame Furie under Creative Commons non-commercial licnese
(http://www.flickr.com/photos/madame_furie/3649737943/).

There are variations on this model. Shareholders may be able to modify the contents of the box, to work out alternate schedules. Multiple farmers and food producers (bakers, meat, honey, and so forth) may form an informal cooperative, offering additional choices to the subscriber. The plan is submitted for inclusion in the CSA database. To find a CSA close to you, search the database: http://www.localharvest.org/csa/.