Slow Food Sonoma County North

Annual Summer Picnic at Gradek Ranch 2022 (Deadline for purchasing tickets is July 3, 2022)
2022-07-10 16:00 - 19:00 (America/Los_Angeles) | Gradek Ranch, 2323 West Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
It’s Picnic Time!

Let’s get together! Our Annual Summer Picnic at the Gradek Ranch lake in Healdsburg’s Dry Creek Valley is coming up soon. Please join us!
MENU
Selection of Appetizers
Smoked, Pulled Pork (buns? BBQ sauce? we’ll have those too!!)
Baked Beans
Coleslaw
Selection of Home-made Cookies
* BYOB, place setting, glass.
Tickets are $40 for Slow Food members, $50 for nonmembers. Children under 12 are free. Deadline for purchasing tickets is July 3, 2022.
Purchase your tickets here
If you prefer to pay by check, please register at slowfoodsonomacountynorth@gmail.com and send your check (made out to SF Sonoma County North) to 1321 W. Dry Creek Road, Healdsburg 95448. We must receive your check no later than July 3, 2022.
Directions will be sent upon registration.
Not sure if your membership is current? Email us at slowfoodsonomacountynorth@gmail.com .
Want to take a swim in the lake? Bring your bathing suit.
Hoping for a fun raffle? We will have one!

5th Annual Snail of Approval Awards
2023-03-14 17:30 - 19:30
Tickets
Join us as we celebrate our 2022 Snail of Approval Awardees! A reception will be held after the awards and you will be able to visit our awardees and enjoy their tastes and displays. Our Slow Food Events team will also be presenting bites and beverages.
2022 Snail of Approval Awardees:

Americana, Santa Rosa
COOKIE…take a bite!, Santa Rosa
Corner Project Ales & Eats, Geyserville
Gold Ridge Organic Farms, Sebastopol
Lunchette, Petaluma
Maison Porcella, Windsor
Sunray Farm, Sonoma
Taub Family Outpost, Sonoma
In 2022 the following Snail of Approval awardees continued to provide good, clean and fair food in Sonoma County and were extended for another two years.
Bernier Farms, Black Pig Meat Co, Black Piglet Food Truck, DaVero Farms & Winery, Diavola Pizzeria and Salumeria, Estero Cafe, Handline, Laguna Farm, Seven Moons Farm (formerly Lantern Farm), The Naked Pig Cafe, Red Horse Pizza, Tierra Vegetables, Tilted Shed Ciderworks, Single Thread
Slow Food USA’s Snail of Approval directory is a national interactive Snail of Approval map that allows users to find businesses across the US that are embracing the Slow Food values.
Visit the Sonoma County map for a full list of local Snail of Approval awardees.
Slow Food in Sonoma County awards the Snail of Approval to local restaurants, farms/ranches and producers who are making a significant contribution to improving the food system. Snail of Approval is an international program which we run locally in partnership with Slow Food USA. Slow Food in Sonoma County is a partnership of two local chapters, Russian River and Sonoma County North.

Noble Goat Farm Tour
2023-06-08 10:00 - 12:00 | Noble Goat Farm, Kinley Drive, Healdsburg, CA, 95448, United States
Please join us for a tour of this 3-year old farm in the Dry Creek Valley. Our tour will be led by Noble Goat’s farmer, Jon Vandervelde, who will describe what it takes to create a bio-diverse farm from a neglected orchard, and how they work with Farm to Pantry and Farm to Fight Hunger to reduce food insecurity in our community.
Bring your lunch if you’d like to eat together at picnic tables in the farm’s Grove after the tour.
Full disclosure: there are no goats on the farm yet!
Tickets are $10 for Slow Food members and $15 for non-members.
Buy your tickets here.
Owners Shalie and Jeremy Jonkers describe their farm this way:
We’re a family-run truck farm in the heart of the Dry Creek Valley watershed. Established in 2020, we started by reviving a neglected pomegranate orchard. Working alongside a team of local experts, we’re on journey to develop a sustainable, bio-diverse farm. From revitalizing the soil and fixing irrigation, to selecting our seasonal crops, we’re growing every day. For every pound of produce we sell, we donate a pound to local organizations fighting food insecurity in Sonoma County.
Reinvigorating the soil, and restoring the biodiversity, will not only lead to higher-nutrient produce, but will also increase carbon draw-down and support climate improvement.
Today, the property includes 400 pomegranate trees and 4 acres of a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. We aspire to build a sustainable family farm using a holistic and ethical approach to growing. We believe that mindful farming practices, bio-diversity, and local engagement will positively impact the health of our community and the planet.

Slow Food Presents a Sunset Supper at Foss Vineyards
2023-09-23 18:00 - 21:00 | The Barn at Foss Vineyard, 6475 Starr Road, Windsor, CA, 95492, United States
As the season turns from summer green to the colors of fall, please join us for supper on the Autumn Equinox. The evening begins outside overlooking the Foss Vineyard, savoring a selection of appetizers, and enjoying a variety of Italian wines. Guests can peruse the treasures offered in a silent auction before sitting down for a three-course dinner accompanied by DaVero wines.
Between dinner courses, we will hear from those who attended Terra Madre 2022. Our delegate to Terra Madre 2022 was Tucker Taylor, Head Culinary Gardener of Jackson Family Farms. Also attending from the chapter were Donna Del Rey, owner of Relish Culinary Adventures in Healdsburg (both Snail of Approval awardees), and Marie Giacalone, Chair of the chapter’s Events Team. The meal will be prepared by the Sonoma County North’s Events Team.
This will be a fundraiser to send our delegates to Italy in 2024.
Tickets are $75 for Slow Food members and $85 for non-members. Ticket sales close September 16, 6 pm. Note that there are no refunds after September 15.
If you prefer to pay by check, please mail your check made out to SF Sonoma County North to Mark Crapeau, 985 Lupine Court, Healdsburg 95448. Checks must be received no later than September 16.

TICKETS

Supper will be accompanied by wine generously donated by DaVero Farms and Winery.
MENU
Assortment of Slow Appetizers served with a selection of Italian wines
Late Summer Salad
Lasagna Involtini (with vegetarian option)
Fall Vegetables
Vin Santo and Biscotti

Showa Olive Farm Tour
2023-10-05 10:00 - 12:00
Showa Olive Farm Tour

Continuing our 2023 farm tours, next we will be visiting Cloverdale and touring
Showa Farm
Thursday, October 5, 10 am
26070 River Road, Cloverdale
Tickets are $10 for Slow Food members, and $20 for non-members.
We will tour the farm and taste the Arbequina olive oil with Geoff Peters, the owner. We will see the olive trees full of olives right before harvest and learn about his farming practices— Showa is both organic and biodynamic. There will also be time to visit the animals he has on the property (chickens, goats, sheep, and two donkeys). After our tour, Geoff will host a tasting of his award-winning olive oil.
The ground will be uneven on this tour so we recommend you wear flat, comfortable shoes.

Get Your Tickets Here

Harvesting at night

Showa Farm
Located in the Alexander Valley, Showa Farm is family-owned. We use best practices based on biodynamic and organic farming principles. The olive orchards are 90% Arbequina olive trees with the remaining trees being pollinators.
Our estate-grown organic extra virgin olive oil is made solely from hand-picked Arbequina olives. Using well water, drip irrigation, low-density no-till farming, we organically press each small batch to create this flavorful and super high-quality EVOO.
100-percent of our electric usage comes from our solar panels and our water is all-natural aquifer well water administered to the orchard using drip irrigation. We raise goats, chickens, a burro, a horse and dogs. We grow fruits and nuts as well as vegetables to add to the diversity.
Of the 30 acres on the farm, only 8 are devoted to olive trees with another 2 acres devoted to other non-commercial organic gardens, trees, and food production. Even the 8 acres of olive trees are planted 16-18 feet center on center allowing very large areas for air circulation and lots of sunlight. This low-density approach has allowed us to be disease and pest free and has improved the quality of our olive oil.
Showa was selected as one of the top 100 olive oils in the world three times at the New York International Olive Oil Competition.

Volunteer Day for Farm to Pantry
2023-10-11 08:30 - 11:00
Volunteer Day for Farm to Pantry

Do good and have fun! Volunteer with us for a few hours of gleaning for Farm to Pantry!
Wednesday, October 11, 8:30-11:00 am
We are gleaning at Farm to Fight Hunger, 12340 Los Amigos Road, Healdsburg
We will meet at Farm to Fight Hunger at 8:30 am at the barn. Park near the entrance to the farm and walk up the driveway to the barn.
During the morning, we will harvest field vegetables and pack and weigh them. If you don’t want to bend over and pick, carry buckets of produce, or work in the sun, you may choose to weigh, bag, and box in the barn. There’s a job for everyone!
When we finish, the produce will be delivered to organizations that feed people in need of healthy food.
Wear work clothes and bring a water bottle, hat, and gloves. We’ll also learn a bit about this farm and its mission.

SIGN UP HERE

Farm to Pantry Executive Director Duskie Estes

In 2008, the nonprofit Farm to Pantry was launched to serve a need in our local community: to provide a continuous supply of fresh, healthy produce to our most vulnerable neighbors who lack access to it by cultivating a community of growers and volunteers. The mission then and now is to bring together communities to end food injustice and reverse global warming by rescuing and sharing locally-grown food with those who have been systematically marginalized. We envision a just food system in which everyone has access to healthy food that honors and nourishes our community and heals the planet through eliminating food waste.

Farm to Fight Hunger owners Bruce Mentzer and Anthony Solar

Farm to Fight Hunger is a non-profit organization that grows, harvests and delivers fresh nutritious produce, free of charge, to those in Sonoma County in need of healthy food. Eggs layed by happy pastured hens are also donated to local food banks. We farm in an earth-friendly sustainable manner and work to improve the soil health, therefore improving the nutritional content of the food we grow, increasing the amount of carbon the soil can hold and reducing greenhouse gases. We will work to make the farm its own healthy balanced ecosystem, with habitat for both native plants and beneficial insects.
Farm to Fight Hunger is a Slow Food in Sonoma County Snail of Approval farm.

The Mendocino Grain Project and Ridgewood Ranch Farm Tour
2024-06-15 10:00 - 13:00 | Mendocino Grain Project, 3541 N. State Street, Ukiah, CA, 95482, United States
Farm Tour: The Mendocino Grain Project and Ridgewood Ranch

Please join us for a tour of the Mendocino Grain Project in Ukiah followed by a tour and picnic lunch at Ridgewood Ranch.
Saturday, June 15, 10 am
3541 N. State Street, Ukiah
The tour is limited to 15 people. Tickets are $20 for Slow Food members and $30 for non-members.
Proceeds will be shared equally by the Mendocino Grain Project and the chapter’s Local Farmer project.
Ridgewood Ranch is about 20 minutes north of Ukiah. You may choose to leave after our tour, or continue north to visit the Ranch and have a brown-bag lunch. Carpool options will be sent upon registration confirmation.

BUY TICKETS HERE

Rachel Britten is the owner of the Mendocino Grain Project in central Mendocino County. She grows primarily wheat and rye on 34 acres in Redwood Valley. She took over the business in 2020 from Doug Mosel who started it in 2009.
“We’re right on the Russian River, and we don’t use any fertilizer other than compost and cover crops. We use a low-tillage system, which means minimizing the disturbance to the soil. It’s part of my farming values, but it also feels like a responsibility to my community. Local farming creates a really beautiful loop of accountability and understanding.” (Alta Magazine)
Rachel processes her grain for sale, and also partners with other farmers to process their grains post-harvest: quinoa, rolled oats, heirloom beans, and Einkorn. A percentage of the grain stays with the Grain Project for sale and the remainder goes back to the farmers.
Rachel lives on a ranch made famous as the retirement home of champion race horse Sea Biscuit. Ridgewood Ranch is north of Ukiah, and we will have a chance to tour the ranch and have a brown-bag lunch after our visit to the grain milling facility in Ukiah.

Heron Shadow Farm Tour, Sebastopol
2024-09-12 10:00 - 11:15
Farm Tour: Heron Shadow

Heron Shadow is an Indigenous biocultural heritage oasis in Sebastopol. Join us for a special educational tour!
Thursday, September 12, 10-11:15 am
Sebastopol
Tickets are $20 for Slow Food members and $30 for non-members. The tour is limited to 15 people. Proceeds are divided equally between Heron Shadow Farm and Sonoma County North’s Local Farmer grant.
There are several Slow Food Snail of Approval restaurants in Sebastopol if you want to have lunch after the tour.
Handline, 935 Gravenstein Hwy S.
Americana, 162 N Main Street
Psychic Pie, 980 Gravenstein Hwy S.

BUY TICKETS HERE

An Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Oasis
Heron Shadow is a Native place of refuge and learning for community engagement, connection to the land, growing Indigenous foods, and nourishing Indigenous and intercultural relations.
After 37 years of growing our organization and implementing our mission to protect and revitalize the sacred relationship Native peoples have with ancestral lands, we now have purchased 7.6 acres of land in Sonoma County, on the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo Peoples of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria. We were able to become stewards of this land and make this purchase thanks to the discount offered by the former owner, the generous support of key funders, and with the permission of Graton Rancheria.
Heron Shadow: An Indigenous Biocultural Heritage Oasis is a home for the dreaming, building, growing, and transmission of The Cultural Conservancy’s mission and work. We are transforming this gift of land into an innovative haven that will focus on the conservation and regeneration of Indigenous agriculture, Native Sciences, and healthy lifeways.
We invite you to connect with this land, engage in the dream, and experience the potential of Heron Shadow.
(The Cultural Conservancy is a Native-led nonprofit organization founded in 1985. It is based in the San Francisco Bay Area.)

Volunteer Days for Farm to Pantry
2024-10-16 08:30 - 11:00
Volunteer Days for Farm to Pantry

Do good and have fun: Volunteer with us for a few hours of gleaning for Farm to Pantry! This year there are 2 days of gleaning.

Wednesday, October 16, 8:30-11:00 am

and/or Wednesday, October 23, 8:30-11 am

We are gleaning at Farm to Fight Hunger, 12340 Los Amigos Road, Healdsburg

We will meet at Farm to Fight Hunger at 8:30 am at the barn. Park near the entrance to the farm and walk up the driveway to the barn.

During the morning, we will harvest field vegetables and bring them from the field to the barn. When we finish, the produce will be delivered to organizations that feed people in need of healthy food.

Wear work clothes and bring a water bottle, hat, and gloves. We’ll also learn a bit about this farm and its mission.

SIGN UP HERE

What Is Farm to Pantry?

In 2008, the nonprofit Farm to Pantry was launched to serve a need in our local community: to provide a continuous supply of fresh, healthy produce to our most vulnerable neighbors who lack access to it by cultivating a community of growers and volunteers. The mission then and now is to bring together communities to end food injustice and reverse global warming by rescuing and sharing locally-grown food with those who have been systematically marginalized. We envision a just food system in which everyone has access to healthy food that honors and nourishes our community and heals the planet through eliminating food waste.

Farm to Fight Hunger is a non-profit organization that grows, harvests and delivers fresh nutritious produce, free of charge, to those in Sonoma County in need of healthy food. Eggs laid by happy pastured hens are also donated to local food banks. We farm in an earth-friendly sustainable manner and work to improve the soil health, therefore improving the nutritional content of the food we grow, increasing the amount of carbon the soil can hold and reducing greenhouse gases. We will work to make the farm its own healthy balanced ecosystem, with habitat for both native plants and beneficial insects.

Farm to Fight Hunger is a Slow Food in Sonoma County Snail of Approval farm.

Farm to Fight Hunger owners Bruce Mentzer and Anthony Solar

P.O. Box 1494 | Healdsburg CA | 95448 unsubscribe

Farm Tour: Knights Valley Wagu at Ghost Donkey Ranch
2025-07-09 09:30 - 11:00
The Knights Valley Wagyu farm tour has been rescheduled to July 9, 2025

FARM TOUR: KNIGHTS VALLEY WAGYU AT GHOST DONKEY RANCH

Wednesday, July 9, 9:30-11:00 am
Knights Valley Wagyu
13800 Highway 128, Calistoga

Tickets

Get ready for a moo-ving experience! Join us for a tour of Knights Valley Wagyu, a 227-acre working cattle ranch that’s earned our Snail of Approval!
Ever wonder what makes Wagyu so special? The ranch is home to cattle with 100% Japanese genetics – that’s like royalty in the beef world! These happy cows spend their days foraging on lush native grasses, soaking up the California sunshine. They also get a special, hand-fed nutritional mixture twice daily, tailored just for them.
Knights Valley Wagyu is all about being kind to the planet and the animals. The land is devoted to wildlife, native plants, and cattle. No pesticides, fertilizers, or chemical agents are allowed and water usage is minimal. We believe that enjoying small amounts of thoughtfully and sustainably raised beef offers a delicious and ethical alternative to the typical factory farming of large animals.
Come soak in the stunning beauty of the ranch and get the inside scoop on what makes Knights Valley Wagyu truly special. Don’t forget to pack your favorite lunch! We’ll have a picnic area ready for us to share a meal together.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Slow Food Sonoma County North | PO Box 1494 | Healdsburg, CA 95448 US

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Annual Summer Picnic at Gradek Ranch
2025-07-12 16:00 - 19:00
It’s Time for the Slow Food Annual Summer Picnic at the Gradek Ranch!

Saturday, July 12
4 – 7 pm

Our Annual Summer Picnic is held on the Gradek Ranch in the Dry Creek Valley. Please join us for an afternoon of friends and food in a beautiful setting: picnic tables under the shade of tall trees and a lake ready for swimming. Come at 4 pm for appetizers, followed by a Mexican Taco Bar supper with grilled steak and chicken and hand-made tortillas.
Please bring a beverage and your place-setting!

Tickets Here

Thank you for supporting our chapter’s initiatives! This picnic is more than just a fun gathering—it’s also a fundraiser that helps us keep our efforts going strong. We’re grateful for your participation and generosity. In addition, we’re proud to donate a portion of the proceeds to Farm to Fight Hunger, supporting their mission to combat food insecurity.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Slow Food Sonoma County North | PO Box 1494 | Healdsburg, CA 95448 US

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Celebrate a Year of Slow Food With Us at Our Annual Meeting, Healdsburg!
2025-10-26 15:00 - 17:00
Celebrate a Year of Slow Food With Us at Our Annual Meeting!

Barn at Farm to Fight Hunger

Speaker Vince Trotter

October 26, 3-5 pm
Farm to Fight Hunger
12340 Los Amigos Road, Healdsburg

There is no charge for this event, but please register for planning purposes.

Register Here

Come Help Us Celebrate Our Members and Our Collective Work This Year–and Learn About North Bay Agriculture
Mingle with old friends and meet new members, have some nibbles and drinks, and find out what your chapter has been doing this year.
We will enjoy the beauty of the fields and barn at Farm to Fight Hunger and hear from owners Bruce Mentzer and Anthony Solar about their mission to provide food for those in need.
And we are excited to welcome Vince Trotter as our speaker. Vince is Sustainable Ag Coordinator and Agricultural Ombudsman with UC Cooperative Extension in Marin County and co-owner of Kibo Farm. He will give us “A Perspective on North Bay Agriculture” and answer your questions.

Special Information
Please bring your favorite appetizer to share, and label it.
Beverages provided.
Bring a friend! We want to spread the word about Slow Food and Good, Clean, Fair food for all.
If your membership has expired, attend and renew it. Not a member? Come and see what we’re all about!

Farm to Fight Hunger
Our mission is to sustainably grow nutritious vegetables, and to produce pasture-raised eggs, for donation to those in need of healthy food in Sonoma County. We donate 100% of what we grow.
The farm is a Snail of Approval – Slow Food in Sonoma County recipient.

Slow Food Sonoma County North | Contact Us
a 501(c)3 non-profit organization

Olive Tree Pruning at Tallgrass Ranch, Sonoma
2026-03-03 10:00 - 12:00 | Tallgrass Ranch, 27255 Arnold Dr, Sonoma, CA, 95476
More information to come!

Ranch Tour & Lunch
2026-05-08 10:30 - 13:30
TOUR: STEMPLE CREEK RANCH
900 Burbank Lane, Tomales
Join us for a tour of Stemple Creek Ranch, acclaimed for its superior grass-fed and finished meats and regenerative and organic agricultural practices. The ranch has been home to the Poncia family for four generations. “We seek to enhance and rehabilitate our entire ecosystem by focusing on soil health and increasing carbon in our land.”
We encourage you to support the ranch by purchasing their products: meat (beef, lamb, pork, chicken) and swag (honey, tallow lip and hand balm, caps and more). Please order ahead of time and pick up at the tour.
LUNCH: ESTERO CAFE
14451 Highway 1, Valley Ford
After our ranch tour, we will drive a short distance to Estero Cafe for lunch. The menu is their signature cheeseburgers with Stemple Creek beef and Estero Gold cheese, french fries, a house-made cookie, and tea or lemonade. The vegetarian option is mushroom melt with coleslaw.
Beer and wine is available for purchase.
Tickets are $50 per person ($55 for non-members), which covers the ranch tour and lunch. Space is limited. Note that ticket sales end on May 1.
About Stemple Creek Ranch
Our goal is to work in harmony with Mother Nature to promote optimal biodiversity that ensures the long term health and productivity of the ranch. Most of our pastureland is Certified Organic, and our free range beef and lamb are 100% grass fed and grass finished. We rotationally graze our stock on open pasture from birth to harvest. They are never supplemented with grains, corn, or soy, and never receive artificial hormones, growth promotants, or antibiotics. Our pigs are humanely raised in large outdoor pens where they enjoy a vegetarian diet with plenty of room to socialize and express natural behaviors.
About Estero Cafe
Located in Valley Ford, Estero Cafe offers fresh, farm-to-table American comfort food. We are dedicated to local sourcing, by procuring locally farmed proteins and vegetables for all our dishes. In that way we also support our community by providing healthy, delicious meals. We are also happy to feature beverages from regional producers. Estero Cafe owners are Ryan and Samantha Ramey; it holds a Snail of Approval in Sonoma County.

Slow Food 100-Mile Dinner
2026-05-30 18:00 - 20:30 | Diaz Ranch/Colibri Vineyard, 26607 River Rd, Cloverdale, CA, 95425, United States
Experience the flavors of our region in their purest form. A 100-mile dinner celebrates ingredients sourced entirely from within 100 miles—highlighting the farmers, producers, and artisans who make our local food community so vibrant.
Join us this May for an intimate and memorable evening at a beautiful private estate in Cloverdale.
Enjoy a thoughtfully crafted five-course menu with wine pairings, created and served by members of our chapter’s Events Team. Each dish will reflect the season at its peak, showcasing the very best of what our region has to offer.
With just 16 seats at the table, this is a rare opportunity to gather, connect, and savor a truly local dining experience.
$165 per person | Limited seating
Proceeds from the evening support our Slow Food projects, including initiatives that uplift local farmers and food businesses.
