Such a cute little pumpkin patch! My family an I really enjoyed visiting Muelrath…read more It is a petite farm, good for families. No entry fee and all their little activities are free. They have a small corn maze and a mini haunted house. Lots of photo opportunities for the kids. Hay bales to play on, tractor rides, and picnic tables scattered around to sit back and enjoy the area. There's even a little pond in the middle. People were super nice there, we were greeted as soon as we arrived and told of all their activities. A good selection of pumpkins, classic and funky ones, all $1 per pound!

This is an awesome pumpkin patch. We came here on a Saturday morning with our two boys. There are…read morelots of activities for kids. The haunted house was incredible. It was pretty big and had lots of different attractions. It's too bad my boys were scared. There was a fun hay maze. A few families were having a birthday party. There was even a taco truck nearby. Very friendly staff and lots of activities for kids. We will be back next year.

We had a good time! The tour was about an hour, and started with us being inside a small pen with…read more4-5 little goat kids that were about a week old. They were so affectionate and friendly! My kids had such a great time. Then we took a tour of the property, visiting the 7 month old kids, and then feeding the older goats with branches and leaves, which were a big treat for the goats since they normally eat hay so they were enthusiastic! We also saw the area where the goats are milked, got a few walnuts from the walnut tree, and walked around the garden. This is a fun tour for kids, and the whole experience took 55 minutes including lining up for hand washing before and after. We bought tickets several weeks in advance though I'm not sure if we needed to. It ended up being our party of 7 in one pen and a couple other guests in another, but they had several other pens available for the kids.

I have very special and indelible memories that spring up when the word Sebastopol is mentioned…read more... retreats and holing up in cabins, long walks and talks with friends, hashing out life in community... long jogs along the Highway there and having sore feet.... the stuff of life! And so is the artisan goat milk cheddar at this small family owned outfit. Phenomenal and a pure delight paired with fresh baguette and some Cab or Zin... Wonderful; can't wait to expand my repertoire of their dairy offerings in time. Solidly delicious

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.

Beautiful Farm to stroll in the morning and take pictures. Reservation is required. We didn't know…read morethat. But Rick is real nice and let us in. BTW, entrance fee has raised to $20.

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!!

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.

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.

We recently visited Salmon Creek Farm for a group tour and hike. The farm has organic…read morecertification for its pastures through the California Certified Organic Farmers and are raising Scottish Highland and Angus cattle for 100% grass-fed/grass finished beef, Kiko goats for meat and breeding stock, as well as producing certified organic duck eggs and other farm-related products. Salmon Creek Ranch is also the home of Timaru Salukis and Anatolian Shepherds. The owners are very hands-on, and passionate about what they do. If you are in the area you can stop by the Mercantile for Duck eggs, goat meat and grass fed beef. Their products are also available at some farmers markets http://www.salmoncreekranch.com/Farmers%20Mkt%20Schedule.html The Ranch also has a few secluded campsites, you need to bring your own potable water, there is a porta potty but no showers. But if you want to get back to nature, this is a perfect location. details https://www.hipcamp.com/california/salmon-creek-ranch/redwood-camp . They will soon be opening a fabulous tree house which is in process of being renovated by a team of tree house builders...more about the tree house.. http://www.sonomamag.com/treehouses-on-the-sonoma-coast/

Amazing farm with very friendly staff. Our kids had blast being there. There is a cute tree house…read morewhich is so cute

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!