By Seth Dolinsky
Sonoma Valley’s rich agricultural tradition has evolved since Europeans seized the land some 200 years ago. While food farming once played a significant role in the local economy, it has diminished in recent years as wine grapes have taken reign, along with high costs for land, materials and inputs, and housing and labor. Those that carry on the tradition are doing us all a service, maintaining a tie to local sustainability.
One of the new farms on the block is Sunray Farm. I was able to catch Farmer Matt Gunn between harvests for a look at their operation. I asked him to tell the story of Sunray Farm and how he got there.
Matt Gunn: “Our boss, Mark Feichtmeir, had long been an advocate for local, organic food. In 2016 he bought and began developing a 13 acre property on Arnold Drive with visions of having a farm there.
I had been farming the previous ten years. I started at Green String Farm in late 2010. My farm mentors were Bob Cannard at Green String and Cannard Farm, Bob Shaffer at Kona Kei Farm, and David Cooper at Oakhill Farm. I was the Farm Manager at The Culinary Institute of America in St Helena for four years.
My wife Maggie earned a Masters in Community Development and a PhD in Social Geography at UC Davis. She was heavily involved at the Student Farm there. She left her academic work to pursue our shared vision of building a farm business together and raising our son Jules (7) on a farm. We moved to the property in 2020 and started selling in 2021, with Maggie and I the only two employees. We farm on 1.5 acres of the 13.
Seth: What do you grow and where do you sell?
Matt: We grow Certified Organic veggies and cut flowers. We specialize in loose leaf greens that we wash and spin so that they’re ready to eat. Lettuce is our biggest crop. We do arugula, microgreens, pea shoots and sunflower shoots. We also do tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, spring onions, shallots, carrots, and a small amount of fennel, kale, chard, salad turnips, and chicories.
We now sell at the Friday Farmers Market in Sonoma. We also sell to restaurants: Valley Bar and Bottle, Belfare, Allikai Eatery, Goodness Gracious, Street Social, and Valley Swim Club.
Seth: What are your favorite crops to grow and eat?
Matt: I love to eat all the above. I have a little thing for fennel. The process of cleaning it makes my Virgo brain light up.
Seth: Sunray grows a fair amount of shoots and microgreens, how does that add value to your operation?
Matt: They’re great – nutritious and delicious and we can grow them year-round in our propagation house.
Seth: What are the challenges and opportunities farming in Sonoma Valley?
Matt: There are some great restaurants here that value sourcing high quality ingredients. Sonoma’s climate is favorable although I would prefer the summer highs not get any higher!
Labor is such a challenging prospect in a high cost of living area that we haven’t really gone there. Some day we will, and hope to find some great people to work with.
Seth: How can Sonoma Valley develop more sustainable food production?
Matt: Sonoma already has a lot of conscientious eaters that spend a high percentage of their food dollars on local food. But we can grow the pie much larger. Having the county’s support is huge. We were permitted to build two hoop houses, which has supported our winter availability. Well water access will continue to be important.
Any other thoughts you want to share regarding your farm or local agriculture in general?
We have awesome growers and vendors at the Friday Sonoma Farmers Market,
9 -12:30 (next to Depot Park). Come see! And thank you to all the regulars who already come out every week rain or shine.
Seth Dolinsky is Lecturer of Sonoma Valley Grange, and is owner of New Land Systems, a regenerative land management company.
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