Feast of the Farm
Q&A With Sweet Thistle Farms…
Edible: Please tell us about Sweet Thistle Farms.
Sarah: Sweet Thistle is a small family farm in Clovis that grows 40 varieties of cut flowers, veggies and fruit and offers a fall pumpkin patch. My husband, Luke, and I are both fifth-generation farmers and enjoy growing and cultivating the land in the fertile soil of California. We offer Community Supported Agriculture boxes, farm stand, u-pick flowers and pumpkins, and we sell at local farmers markets.
Edible: How did hosting outdoor dinners on the farm come to be? Are they offered on a regular basis?
Sarah: We started the dinners to give people an opportunity to get out of the city to the farm, so they could enjoy the great view of the Sierra Nevadas and eat real food. Farm meals are a way to expose the community and customers to agriculture through food that is grown and produced here at the farm and Rocky Oaks Goat Creamery. We select chefs or caterers and work with them to create a seasonal menu using local food. The San Joaquin Valley is the number one producer of food; what an amazing blessing it is to not only see the fruit growing on the trees and have local dairies, but to know the actual farmers who grew your dinner. We mainly offer monthly farm dinners, but we host brunches too.
Edible: What items do you sell at your farm store?
Sarah: Our farm stand offers: Rocky Oaks Goat Creamery cheese, Ferry Farms orange juice, local honey, dried fruit and nuts, Seven Dot beef and bone broth, Tattered Farms goat soaps, lotions and candles, seasonal fresh fruit and veggies, flower arrangements, farm press cards and tea towels.
Edible: What’s something people would be surprised to learn about you?
Sarah: I’m a former demolition derby driver winner and love county fairs. You can always find me checking out the canning entries.
Edible: Can you tell us about some of the other guest experiences that are available at the flower farm?
Sarah: Sweet Thistle offers flower arrangement workshops, flower crown classes, Christmas wreath workshops in November. We take a small number of volunteers for “dirt therapy” Fridays, where they come out and help with farm chores and learn about the different aspects of flower farming.
Edible: Where can your flowers be found?
Sarah: You can find our flowers at the Visalia Farmers Market, the Vineyard Farmers Market, the Tesoro Viejo Farmers Market and at our farm stand on Tuesday and Thursdays. You can also visit our website to sign up for weekly and monthly boxes. We also offer flowers for weddings and special events.
Edible: What’s on the horizon for Sweet Thistle Farms?
Sarah: We’re excited to expand our lavender from four rows to 20 rows this winter/spring. We will be offering a 2022 domestic club membership for a monthly meeting of workshops and classes, where people can learn useful skills like canning, flower designing, cast iron cleaning, soap making and cheese making.
Sweet Thistle Farm • www.sweetthistlefarms.com
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