Alice's Garden Travel Buzz

Whole Foods Farm Tour:  Nicasio Valley Vista

I spent a wonderful end-of-summer day participating in a recent Whole Foods Farm Tour organized by

Bay Area Green Tours.

Our group took part in various tastings, informative discussions, and presentations. After meeting at the San Rafael Whole Foods Store, we visited Christine’s Upper Crust Pies …

Bay Area Green Tours: Upper Crust Pies [Photo: Alice Joyce[

where scrumptious gourmet baked goods are produced. Christine talked about how the business began and how it has evolved to become a Marin County fave among foodies. Fruit pies and tarts are surely one of my greatest pleasures. You can imagine how much fun I had when let loose to taste pie until satiated.

We heard from the folks at All Star Organics Farm at their Nicasio growing fields, where we enjoyed lunch with fresh salad greens. Here we had the chance to talk food gardening, do some seed collecting, and sample aromatic sugars and salts flavored with herbs.

The presentation by the Marin Agricultural Land Trust proved to be particularly fascinating and educational for me. Since moving to Marin County, there’s not been a day that’s passed where I have not been thankful to live in an area with so much protected open land. It’s inspirational to learn about MALT’s workings as it strives to preserve farmland.

The eyes of this Chicago-born and bred former city dweller were opened wide at the Lafranchi family ranch, with its 1,150 certified organic acres.

Touring the working farm where organic milk is produced, we learned about the operations and regulations of the dairy and creamery. Having a chance to taste the variety of cheeses being made by the family’s Nicasio Cheese Company … a perfect ending to the tour! Based upon Swiss Italian cheeses that are part of the Lafranchi heritage, there are currently 6 types being made and sold at the farmstand, and distributed in the Bay Area. I loved the richly flavored aged cheeses, Nicasio Square and Nicasio Reserve.