My week often starts with an email from Rachel Kohn Obut, the mainstay at Flatbed Farm on Highway 12 in Glen Ellen.
Just a few days ago, she wrote, “This week at the Farm Stand, we have Cilantro, Bok Choy, Fava Beans, French Breakfast Radishes, Rainbow Chard, Red Russian Kale, Purple and Green Artichokes, Spring Onions, Green Garlic, Little Gem Lettuces, Farm Eggs, Estate Olive Oil, and Crushed Red Pepper.”
Rachel’s emails give me a taste of delicious things to come; they wet my appetite.
To get to Flatbed, I drive from Crane Canyon Road off Petaluma Hill to Warm Springs to Arnold Drive to 12. It’s a beautiful journey. And Flatbed is a beautiful farm. I like the Swedish-style courtyard in front of the barn, and the barn itself, a two-storey, solidly built architectural marvel.
That’s not surprising since the owners of Flatbed, Sofie and Chris Dolan, are architects with an eye for beauty.
Sunday mornings you’ll find me in the barn, talking to Rachel, or in the fields, or perhaps in the greenhouse looking at the starts. One Sunday, I watched as Rachel harvested green garlic which I bought, took home and used to make a cauliflower and green garlic soup.
The barn brings friends together. I meet long-time friends like Stacey Tuel there. I also make new friends who live near-by, who shop regularly at Flatbed and who tell riveting personal stories and family histories. So, there’s culture to go along with agriculture.
The photos that are reproduced here will hopefully give you a taste of the farm in spring. Perhaps they will persuade you to visit the farm, introduce yourself to Rachel, buy the marvelous olive oil and the fresh produce that’s grown just a stone’s throw away from the courtyard that greets you when you arrive.
They are at 13450 Sonoma Hwy (Hwy 12), in Glen Ellen, CA; the farm-stand is open on Sundays from about 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
I’m looking forward to the seasons at Flatbed. I’ve had a taste of spring; now I’m eager for a taste of summer.
Like Flatbed Farm on Facebook.
Jonah Raskin is a long-time member of Slow Food Russian River and the author of Field Days: A Year of Farming, Eating and Drinking Wine in California.
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