These two photos were taken *only* about 1 mile from downtown Santa Rosa
- looks like the middle of the country? 100% wrong - this last bit of
land (sitting behind Coddingtown) is surrounded by apartments,
industrial buildings and other urban sprawl. Can you guess how much
longer this land will look like this? There is even a horse stabled near
the red barn.
Sonoma County is a breadbasket for many
different types of fruit, vegetables, and general produce. Some farms,
ranches, and orchards are open to the public, although usually only part
of the year. There are also certified Farmer's Markets in several towns.
Many apple orchards are located west of Santa Rosa, out in the rural
areas around Sebastopol, Forestville and Graton. For more information
about Sonoma County Produce and ranches call Sonoma County Farm Trails
at Phone Number (707) 824-2060 or write them at:
Sonoma County Farm Trails P.O. Box 6032 Santa Rosa, CA 95406
www.farmtrails.org
Farms, Orchards, & Ranches
Cardoza Ranches are located at 5869 Lakeville Highway at Cannon
Lane near Petaluma. Pick your own pumpkins. Squash, sunflowers, and
crafts are sold. Open from 10am to 6pm in October only. Phone Number is
(707) 762-2065
Dry Creek Peach and Produce are located at 2179 Yoakim Bridge
Road at Dry Creek Road in Healdsburg. They sell apricots, nectarines,
peaches, plums, melons, asparagus, tomatoes, Walla Walla onions,
broccoli, cauliflower, eggplant, and the list goes on! Open Tuesday
through Sunday from 11am to 6pm from June through early September. Phone
Number (707) 433-8121
Grossi Farms and Pumpkin Patch are located at 6652 Petaluma Hill
Road at East Cotati Avenue in Rohnert Park. They specialize in organic
vegetables, especially white corn, tomatoes, herbs, lettuce, six
varieties of melons, and gourds. Pick your own pumpkins are available in
October. Pick your own strawberries are available in season. They are
open from mid May through October. Call Phone Number (707) 664-1602 for
hours and more information.
Kozlowski Farms are located at 5566 Gravenstein Highway just on
the outskirts of Forestville. They sell lots of berries, apples, jams
and ciders. They are open daily year round from 9am to 5pm. Phone Number
(707) 887-1587
Linda's Garden is located at 17262 Bodega Highway at Bodega Lane
in Bodega Bay. Organic vegetables, herbs, flowers, and handcrafted gifts
are sold. Open Saturday and Sunday from noon until 6pm, May through
December. Phone Number (707) 876-3466
Middleton Farm is located in Healdsburg at 2651 Westside Road at
Felta Road. They sell organic fruit and vegetables. They are open May
through October from 9am to 5:30pm, Monday through Saturday, although
they are closed on Thursdays. Phone Number (707) 433-4755
Certified Farmers Markets
Cloverdale -- Downtown Plaza at West 2nd Street and Cloverdale
Blvd. Phone Number (707) 894-4623. Open from May through November from
9am until 11am.
Healdsburg -- City parking lot at North and Vine Streets. Phone
Number (707) 431-1956. Open June through October on Tuesdays from 4pm to
6pm. Also open from May through December on Saturdays from 9am until
noon.
Petaluma -- Walnut Park at 4th Street between D and E Streets.
Phone Number is (707) 762-0344. Open June through November on Saturdays
from 2pm to 5pm.
Santa Rosa -- Downtown at 4th and E Streets. Phone Number (707)
769-9145. Open late May through mid September from 5pm until 8:30pm.
Santa Rosa -- Oakmont at the Wells Fargo Bank Parking Lot at
White Oak and Oakmont Drives. Phone Number (707) 538-7023. Open Saturday
from 9am until noon, year round.
Santa Rosa -- Rincon Valley on the south side of Rincon Valley
Community Park on Montecito Blvd. Phone Number (707) 538-7023. Open
Wednesdays from 9am until noon, June through October.
Santa Rosa -- Veterans Memorial Building at Highway 12 and
Brookwood Avenue. Phone Number (707)
522-8629. Open Wednesdays and
Saturdays from 8:30am until noon, year round even in inclement weather,
although the number of vendors in this case is greatly reduced. This is the largest Farmer's Market
in Santa Rosa - it includes other artist type vendors besides the
generally local grown produce. This market tends to be very high priced
and the quality of the produce you receive really varies in quality. Can you believe vendors used to bring fruit to this market with
stickers on them - essentially they were buying them from supermarkets
and selling them as fresh produce. Some vendors are probably still
buying their fruits from large wholesalers and are removing the stickers
before they sell the fruit at this market. Much of the produce sold here
is not ripe - i.e. its hard - the vendors will tell you their fruit will
ripen in a few days. Wrong - been there, done that with some of the
vendors at this market.
Much of Sonoma County typically is not a good place to grow stone
fruits or melons - exception to this are the Crane Melons which need
certain micro climates. Any fruit that requires a lot of heat will
typically not do well in most of Sonoma County - especially West
county and near Santa Rosa/Petaluma. Much of Sonoma county is good for
growing apples, wine grapes, a variety of vegetables, herbs and garden
flowers. It is always a good idea to ask vendors where their produce was
grown.
Santa Rosa -- From late May through
late August, Santa Rosa closes part of 4th street through downtown and
invites produce and other vendors to setup shop along this street. The
produce section takes up about a block on Mendocino Ave just off of 4th
Street. The main vendor and booth part of the market runs from the Mall
on 4th Street down to almost Barnes and Nobles. On warm days this market
is very crowded. Lots of local food vendors sell dinners here. More
information is available here:
www.srdowntownmarket.com
Sebastopol -- New Town Plaza at McKinley Street and Petaluma Ave.
Phone Number is (707) 522-9305. Open Sunday from 10am until 1pm, June
through October.
Sonoma -- Arnold Field Parking Lot at 1st Street West, north of
West Spain Street. Phone Number (707) 538-7023. Open Fridays from 9am
until noon, year round.
Sonoma -- Sonoma Plaza at Napa Avenue between 1st Street West and
1st Street East. Phone Number (707) 538-7023. Open Tuesdays from 5:30pm
until dusk, April through October.
