Marin Roots Farm Tour
On July 27, 2014, as part of our “Bees and Greens Farm Tour,” CUESA visited Marin Roots Farm, near Petaluma, for a first-hand look at organic vegetable growing. Thanks to volunteers Jenn Heflin and Janet McGarry for taking photos and notes!
Jesse Kuhn and Moira Firmin farm 30 acres just 10 miles west of Petaluma. A first-generation farmer, Jesse started Marin Roots in 2003.
Marin County is one of the most difficult places in the Bay Area to grow row crops because the land is hilly, better suited for cattle ranches. Hicks Valley, where Marin Roots is located, is one of the few areas that has sufficient flat land for crops.
Marin Roots grows a wide variety of greens, herbs, edible flowers, and other vegetables. Growing unusual and diverse crops has been one of the keys to the farm's success.
Another key to the farm's success is its access to water from two large ponds on the same property. The farm depends on the rainwater-fed ponds to irrigate their fields.
Marin Roots shares the ponds with a cheese maker also on the property. An old-fashioned windmill next to the pond provides energy to pump water uphill to holding ponds for use by the cheese maker.
This is a sheep's foot roller, which Jesses uses to compact the soil when working on dams to rehabilitate the ponds.
Moira pointed out that the ponds attract wildlife to the farm, including many birds like coots and pied-billed grebes.
This is Jesse's primary water pump, which runs off the tractor. The gray fitting on the left is the suction side, which gets connected to a pipe coming up from the pond. The green disk with holes is a gasket, which seals against the main line and brings water to the fields.
The farmers use drip irrigation on their perennial crops but not on their annual crops because the light, thin tubing tends to rip easily when moved. They irrigate the annual crops with a network of light aluminum pipes, which requires 12 hours of work by a crew of four to set up each spring.
One of the farm's popular crops is sunflower buds, which Jesse said they discovered through " a happy accident" when they planted sunflower seeds, planning to sell sunflower sprouts, but the plants grew more quickly than expected. The buds quickly got picked up by Bay Area restaurants.
The farm uses composted manure to fertilize the fields. This year, they started adding oyster shells to adjust the pH level and balance the nutrients, based on a recommendation from a soil lab that tested the soil.
The farm's biggest expense is weeding, which is not only time-consuming but also tough on workers' bodies.
Our tour group tried our hands at weeding, tasting the farm's organic greens along the way.
Thanks to Marin Roots Farm for hosting us!
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CUESA (Center for Urban Education about Sustainable Agriculture) is dedicated to cultivating a sustainable food system through the operation of farmers markets and educational programs. Learn More »