Bayer Farm – A Farm-Park in Roseland

In 2008 the Sustainable Enterprise Conference introduced the idea of "sustainable decorations" by using vegetable, herb and flower seedlings arranged in baskets as "tasteful" decorations of the 2008 conference. The plants were then donated by the Conference, Harmony Farm Supply, and Empire 1 Nursery to the Bayer Farm community garden to feed neighborhood families. The 2009 Conference will be decorated in this manner again with help from Harmony Farm Supply. Here's an update of the project:

In August of 2007 the site was just a field of dried grass with a few empty beer bottles thrown in for good measure. It was surrounded by a sagging barbed-wire fence, and was the largest visible open space along one of the main corridors of the most densely-populated neighborhood in Sonoma County. The neighborhood, Roseland, is also home to the most children per-capita in Sonoma County, and suffers from the most prominent lack of parks north of the Golden Gate. It is a neighborhood known more for its high rates of diabetes and obesity than for its organic produce, but this site was poised to change all of that with the development of Bayer Farm

Bayer Farm is a groundbreaking collaboration between LandPaths and Santa Rosa Parks and Rec. This is more than a park – this is a LandPaths Farm-Park (or Fark). The idea came out of LandPaths’ desire to see agriculture fully integrated into everyday life, even urban everyday life. It also came out of the ideas that recreation can involve nature and organic gardening, and that the development of parks does not have to displace usable farmland. By locating such a project in a neighborhood like Roseland, Bayer Farm actively addresses relevant food-security issues while also addressing equal access to the outdoors and environmental literacy.

Today Bayer Farm is home to over 30 garden plots for individual families and a large commons area that combines public gardens with nature-based recreation areas. Bayer Farm is utilized by local schools and other neighbors as a site for education, recreation, and community-building. Literally hundreds of volunteers contribute to the success of the project each year. The organic produce is popular during events and presentations, is sold at a low cost at the seasonal farm stand, and when there is still more abundance, donated. Bayer Farm is also strikingly beautiful, with historic barns, mature walnut trees, and an uninterrupted view of Taylor Mountain. As the project continues to grow so does its beauty, both in terms of the beneficial and edible plants that thrive there, as well as in the laughter, joy, and connection to land felt by all who participate.