A Community Shared Agriculture program in Sebastopol, the Laguna Farm workers till the soil of the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Underwater for much of the winter, the fields are used to grow vegetables and salad greens for the remainder of the dry season. Located off Cooper Road in Sebastopol, Laguna Farm members receive a bounty of items almost weekly in a box of produce harvested from the land. If you can think of a vegetable, most likely it’s grown sustainably on the farm. On Monday morning, Jennifer Branham, who is a partner in the operation, walked the fields in search of fresh broccoli, beets and salad greens.
Meandering through the property leased by the farm is a virtual ludwigia free zone. Ludwigia is a plant that has choked some sections of the Laguna, giving water mangers and those which have a vested interest in eliminating the invasive plant, fits. With the fall colors, it was a welcome surprise.
Laguna Farms' Jennifer Branham jumps a potion of the Laguna de Santa Rosa waterway that runs the through the property, Monday Nov. 4, 2013 in Sebastopol. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
Laguna Farms' Jennifer Branham harvests lettuce greens grown in the flat plain of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, Monday Nov. 4, 2013 in Sebastopol. (Kent Porter / Press Democrat) 2013
-Kent Porter
