Farm Trails Continued: A Winter Visit

Finally there’s a break in the weather and it’s sunny, perhaps it’s a sign that winter is about to end and spring begins...

I headed up to Sonoma County with my dog, Pepe. He’s really excited because we haven’t done any long drives lately. Then again, he gets excited even if it’s just to go outside to pee. ;) It’s winter and not many farms are open to the public during this slow growing season. For this trip, I wanted to explore the farms of Healdsburg & Windsor. Browsing through my Sonoma County Farm Trails Guide, there are only a few farms in Healdsburg that are open during this season. One of them is Preston Organic Farm, which is also a winery – Preston Vineyards. Nestled in the beautiful Dry Creek Valley, Preston combines a winery, organic sustainable farming, with a lovely picnic area and 13 cats. Yes, dogs are not allowed in the garden for fear of them chasing after the 13 feline creatures. I saw a couple of them, they are as big as my dog!

The owner, Lou Preston appeared and introduced himself to me. I thought that was really nice, afterall I’m just that lone visitor during the week who is more of a pain to entertain than the masses that appear during the weekends. The lady in the tasting room, Sara, was very kind and brought me outside to the farming gardens. She was very honest and told me that there is not a lot going on because it’s winter and they are starting to plant for spring/summer. Still, I left with some beautiful orange and red carrots, red beets and collard greens plucked directly out of the collard plants. She pulled the carrots right from the soil. I asked her how she knows which ones are ripe for ‘pulling’ since they are all under the soil. She replied that when ready, the tops will show slightly above ground and you can verify by looking at the diameter size of the round tops. One of the gardeners there also happens to be a winemaker (excellent multi-tasking and multi-talented) and she told me that one of her favorite ways of eating collard greens is to crisp them in the oven and then sprinkle some sea salt on them. I tried that but unfortunately I wasn't paying attention and burnt them all ;-(

Now, I’m looking forward to spring and warmer weather before heading up to the farm country again…