What a wonderful lavender bee farm!!…read more I've visited much bigger lavender farms in Texas in the past. This farmer is not big by any means in comparison but it's so well maintained, charming, and so beautiful. They only open for about a month during lavender season in early summer. So pencil that in on your calendar to email or call b/c it's by appointment only. The tour is $15 per person and it's well worth it. The owners JoAnn and Rick gave a very informative tour of the property, lavender fields, bee-keeping, and the history of the farm. There are plenty of photo ops and you'll also get to meet Bob who is the master dog at the lavender bee farm. The best part of the tour is the tasting in the end IMO. JoAnn served us samples of local artisan cheese and fresh watermelon drizzled with lavender honey. OMG they tasted sooooo freaking fantastic!!! And how can I forget about that lavender lemonade. WOWZ!!! After the tour, you are free to explore on your own and/or buy honey and gifts from the small gift shop. I picked up a bottle of lavender honey for $18. I can't wait to return next year and take my parents there, too! Love love!!

We looked up the hours (on yelp/google) it's shows open and two times have driven all the way out…read morethere and they were closed. No Hours on phone recording Or Website. Please Post hours on website, if seasonal the day that.

One of the best experiences I have had recently! 5* Living…read morein the east coast apple picking was a favourite fall activity but since I moved to the west coast I have been missing that! We finally found this place and were so excited to try it! It was my first visit to the area and it was absolutely gorgeous to drive out there. The orchard is lovely and the staff are so kind, attentive and informative. I called ahead to check that they have parking on site and that helped alot! When you get there staff helps with parking and then you go get the U pick supplies and make your way to the orchard. The green apples were limited but we found alot of red ones. The experience was fabulous! After picking we paid for the apples and got some fresh organic apple slushies along with some sweet treats! Absolutely 10/10 We enjoyed this in the orchard and it was really charming! Highly recommend this specially with kids! Note- They have bathrooms on site and you can pay with cash or card to get the apples.

So fun! It was pouring rain and we still had a good time and can't wait to return. Prices on apples…read morewere good and getting them off the trees was easy and their hot cider was delicious!!

What an amazing and magical place to spend a day. Thank you for showing us your incredible farm and…read moresharing your delicious cheese. Loved every second. Highly recommend a visit to all in the area!

We have been happy CSA members of Tara Firma Farms for 3+ years now and highly recommend for anyone…read morelooking for a local, sustainable farm co-op! The eggs are wonderful, delivery prompt, online store very accessible, and they conveniently partner with other local farms to provide veggies + fruit in addition to their sustainable meats (most CSAs will only provide one or the other). We came across Tara Firma initially via online / yelp searches shortly after moving to the Bay Area in 2016. When my husband and I initially started looking into vegetarianism for animal welfare reasons, I suggested we visit a farm that employs best practices of ethically and sustainably raised meat to help inform our decision. Tara Firma offers free educational tours every weekend and so we drove up one day with our 2 dogs (leashed dogs welcome!) and another family with their 3 (non furry) children for a fun Petaluma outing. The tour was informative and our guide was clearly super passionate about their mission. The farm was very beautiful and the lands idyllic -- we loved the fact that the cows were so free range that we could just barely make them out as a tiny dot in the distant hills. We all enjoyed observing the chicken dynamics around their mobile coop with their rooster guard, and they showed us how unperturbed the hens were when removing the eggs from the nest-- evening letting the children carefully take a couple out. Ultimately, we decided to pursue a vegetarian diet (especially after my husband met the pigs there), but we joined the CSA for their eggs and veggie share + cheeses (sourced from partner farms). We also have purchased meat occasionally for visiting carnivore families and friends, as we wanted to ensure if they were going to eat meat -- they were getting it from a farm like Tara Firma that does it in the right way. The best part of the CSA was their pet share as we realized buying offal from this farm would be a great compromise for our dogs (who were rebelling against our plant-based diet experiment) as we just wanted to provide our dogs protein with leftovers / byproduct without creating additional demand on the meat industry. Our pet share included amazing proteins like heart, tongue, cheeks, as well as more indulgent items like liver and kidney. Even the trotters and bones I would use to make broth in order to flavor / disguise our dogs' vegetarian kibble haha :) We also occasionally received some freezer burn meats, which cannot be sold for human consumption but safe (and very drool-worthy) for our dogs! Unfortunately, the pet share program has been discontinued but there are still plenty of diverse offal options in the farm store! Overall, a great local farm to support and highly recommend a visit!

Amazing family and such a neat farm! We just got two hens today and Jane and her husband were so…read morenice, friendly and helpful! My daughter even got to hold a tiny baby goat! 5 star experience!

We got some great 3 month old chickens here, they were in great health and the family raising them…read moreis very nice and helpful! A +, highly recommend!!!

This is one of my favorite farmers markets in the Bay Area. Always great vibes with friendly and…read moreinviting vendors from all different types of local businesses. Open on Sunday mornings. There are a few options for fresh ready-to-go food plus coffee and tea vendors so you can sip and eat while you shop. They also have live music that gets the community dancing and makes the whole market feel lively. You can buy local produce for the week, plant starters for your garden, a new ceramic cup for your office, jewelry for your loved ones and so much more is offered at this market. If you're looking for a way to spend your Sunday morning and a place to find high quality local goods this is your market!

Such a cute farmers market with a live band. I enjoyed browsing at the many different things they…read moreoffer here, beautiful handmade pottery, darling handmade clothes, scented oils, flowers, many choices of food, and hummus. I bought a very tasty hummus from one of the vendors and really enjoyed it. Also, I ordered a delicious shredded chicken from Cita's Kitchen that was absolutely amazing. It was a wonderful way to spend a Sunday strolling and browsing here.

This review is for Two Rock Ranch and Olympia's orchard, which is hard to find, but set out by…read moreStrauss's dairy. On Sept 12th, and again on the 19th, they are offering their first ever Orchard to Oven Apple Pie workshops. Kathy Tresch, farmer, and owner of the orchard, is awesome, and knows so much about apples, and the land that she organically farms. You can find her apples at the Petaluma Farmer's Market, as well as a little road side stand she sets up on Walker Road when they are in season. Nothing, and I mean NOTHING tastes better than her Pink Ladies. She also has Honey Crisps and they are amazing! My mouth sings when I bite into them. Meloni Courtway taught the pie class, and for $48 you couldn't have asked for a better hands on class on how to make pies, and you even get to take your pie home with you. It's a steal for the fun you will have during your 3 hour class. You get to go and pick the apples yourselves, and then make your pie. What a hidden gem. Get in on this one now.

While we were targeting u-pick apples, many of the places were closed. Hale's is really an apple…read morestand. They had apples, apple juice, and pumpkins. The people were very friendly, they had a good variety of apples, and the apples were delicious. It's also conveniently located with easy road access. I recommend Hale's as a great source for apples.

It's harvest-time! What could be better than tasting specialty varieties of freshly picked apples…read morein the countryside? While Dear Hubby and I were in Sonoma County for a quick trip, we had free time on Sunday to get out into the backroads and check out a few apple farms. Hale's is close to Santa Rosa, which made it convenient. They were decked out for Halloween, with various areas sporting giant spider figures, scarecrows, skeletons, and much more. Autumn décor, including pumpkins and apples were definitely part of the scene. Adjacent to their barn they had a station set up with very helpful staff offering samples of various varieties of apples. I loved that they had a number of the favorites I've experienced in SoCal's apple haven of Oak Glen (near Yucaipa). Yes, to Mutsu! Cameo! They also had others that I hadn't heard of, and already can't recall their names. Oh good, I found a chart online - Northern Spy is one I tried and bought. Sundance, maybe? Yikes! Hale's claims to grow 30 different varieties, and good for them. Good for you! An apple a day keeps the doctor away, as the old saying goes. No doctors for me for now - I'm enjoying usually one apple for breakfast and one for lunch. Hale's has kept me going for two weeks now. We especially enjoyed taking in their ambiance with my brother and sister-in-law, who live nearby, but hadn't been before. A great place to visit with family! If you're in the area, stop on by and enjoy the fresh air, the friendly folks helping you taste and purchase the goodness of Sonoma County fruit.

It's rare to find a real farm shop down a backroad, and True Grass Farms offers a simple…read morehelp-yourself shop on the honor system. For sale here are fresh eggs, frozen meats (lamb, pork and beef), local tea, and bone broth. We took note that this is an ecological farm using regenerative grazing practices, and yes we had to dig deeper into their website to find out exactly what that means. Impressive: thoughtful, transparent & sustainable farming. We picked up a dozen farm fresh eggs ($10) some farm made breakfast sausage (which was delicious), and large pork sausage, which we can't wait to try. Easy to connect to their free WiFi at the farm shop and pay via Venmo. Nothing better than a true backroads find!

Camping my Style…read more Working cattle ranch and farm that also happens to have camping locations available throughout the property. The Good: *You can purchase some of their homegrown meats to use at your campground. *Lone shared restroom was very not bad for an outhouse. *Multiple campsites along the Estero *You can also purchase wood to burn in the camp firepit *Located in Tomales, not too far from the ocean, it probably doesn't get too hot like most summer campgrounds are prone to getting. *Cell signal (Xfinity) was actually pretty decent in some spots. The Meh: *Directions to campground is a little confusing at first. The Ugly: *It's still camping and sleeping in a tent on an air mattress is still a nightmare. Conclusion: Still not a big fan of camping but this place is very not bad.