Shone Farm to celebrate 42 years with fall festival, Saturday, October 11

Santa Rosa Junior College’s (SRJC) Shone Farm invites the public to its Fall Festival on Saturday, October 11th from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. This is a free, family-friendly event complete with children’s games and activities. The farm is located at 7450 Steve Olson Lane, Forestville.

This year’s celebration recognizes 42 years of the Farm’s history. It offers a chance to experience authentic farm activities, and will include a wood milling demonstration, apple pressing, and Shone Farm’s award-winning wine and olive oil. Attendees can pick their own pumpkins and vegetables (U-Pick), participate in the rotten tomato slingshot, and enjoy hayrides and tours of SRJC’s 365-acre Shone Farm, including a walk through our forest. Special children’s activities will feature face-painting, craft projects such as stick horse-making, and exploring how compost gets made. Kids and adults can meet farm animals and learn what’s involved with taking care of horses, sheep and chickens. All of these activities will be presented by students in SRJC’s popular Agriculture & Natural Resources Department.

Shone Farm’s Agriculture Ambassadors encourage visitors to come hungry and enjoy delicious lunch options, featuring fresh Shone Grown™ ingredients and offerings from popular local food truck Nellie’s Oysters (https://www.facebook.com/nellies.oysters). A farm stand of Shone Grown™ products, fruits, vegetables, and award-winning wine (2013 and 2014 San Francisco Chronicle Wine Competition) and olive oil (a Gold and Double Gold winner for the past three consecutive years at the Sonoma County Harvest Fair) will be available for sale at the Festival.

New this year, the 4th Annual Russian River Mud Run will start and end at Shone Farm. Russian River Mud Run organizers will donate a portion of their proceeds to support the SRJC agriculture. More information about the Mud Run is available at russianrivermudrun.com.

Shone Farm, a 365-acre farm in the Russian River valley, has been used as a field laboratory and teaching resource for SRJC’s Agriculture and Natural Resources students for more than four decades. Students benefit from direct, hands-on experience as they learn about natural resource management and conservation, sustainable agriculture, winemaking, viticulture, and animal health and livestock management. More information about the Fall Festival is available at www.shonefarm.com.