Grapevine nursery owner Jay Jensen had a problem. Grapevines are a seasonal product, and his 120,000 square feet of greenhouses in Sonoma Valley were unused from late June through January. The team that worked in those greenhouses were not as busy for half the year, too. That is, until Jensen happened to sit next to a board member of the Redwood Empire Food Bank at a local event. The two business leaders started chatting, and Jensen realized those empty square feet — and the expertise of his professional horticulturists — could be put to good use in the off-season, growing food.
"When you walked in, it was a jungle of all these plants growing up the strings, reaching for the light," says Jensen. "It was a great thing to see, especially when they were loaded up with all these beautiful peppers and tomatoes."
The team farmed several thousand pounds of tomatillos, peppers, cilantro, tomatoes and green onions to donate — and Jensen was able to keep his workforce employed through the season.
"We get a lot of potatoes and onions. Tomatoes, sometimes. Tomatillos, rarely. Cilantro, never," says Smith. "So our clients were really happy."
Read more at Sonoma Magazine