Fall Fest closed out the harvest season at Santa Rosa Junior College’s Shone Farm with a large turnout on Oct. 11. The annual event celebrates the end of harvest and showcases all Shone Farm has to offer.
From a rotten-food slingshot to a wine bar, Fall Fest provided something for everyone.
“It’s a really family-friendly event, and we get to feature a lot of the programs and a lot of the students’ work that goes on here and show off this resource that we want everybody to know about,” Connor Murphy, Shone Farm’s director, said.
A line of cars stretching down the farm’s entry road with over 500 people attending the event. On a sunny day guests enjoyed lively festivities.
The highlight of the event was Shone Farm’s student-made product. Showcased at a food court with local vendors, a wine bar with student-made wine and a produce stall that sold fruits, vegetables and meat all cultivated on the farm.
A free hay ride offered a scenic look at Shone Farm’s produce, and a pumpkin patch let visitors explore and choose their own piece of the farm to take home.
The pungent smell of cows, lambs, bunnies and even a horse greeted visitors. There, families learned about the animals while the children petted them.
“That’s a nice thing about having an open house, is there’s an opportunity for people to come and see the livestock that we raise, see some of the produce that we grow and try the wine that we produce,” Murphy said.
“I think that Fall Fest, if you look around, it’s families, it’s Ag, it’s supporting the young people with the FFA [Future Farmers of America] that are here, our Ag ambassadors. It’s supporting students, showing the kind of instruction that we have here at the farm,” said Dr. Angelica Garcia, president of SRJC.
The farm runs a number of different programs, from large-scale machinery production to floral arranging. “It’s just a really unique thing that we have here in Sonoma County, and it’s something that we want people to know about and understand what opportunities there are here,” Murphy said.
Jade Walker Levine, a former employee and current art major at SRJC, said, “It’s the community that comes together at Shone. It’s just incredible. It’s always amazing to see.”Shone Farm is located at 7450 Steve Olson Lane, Forestville. For more information call (707) 535-3700 or visit shonefarm.santarosa.edu.
