Petaluma Profile: ‘It’s the best of all worlds’

This is the second in a series profiling vendors at Petaluma’s farmers markets, from the growers and sellers of produce to craftspeople and other artists.

Maggie La Rochelle and Matt Gunn, both 36, met at the University of California, San Diego as literature majors.

“I thought I’d be a teacher,” Matt said, “or maybe the Peace Corps.”

But after treatment for thyroid cancer, he went to work as an environmental educator at the Marin Conservation Corps.

“I had an environmentalist bent,” he said, but I didn’t know anything about sustainable agriculture.” That job, and reading Michael Pollan’s “The Omnivore’s Dilemma,” changed his direction, as did working on a trail crew on the Pacific Crest Trail and reading books about food in his tent. “I began telling people I was a farmer, even before I’d farmed.”

Matt grew up in Petaluma and got an internship at Green String Farm, following that up with managing the Culinary Institute of America’s farm in St. Helena. Meanwhile, Maggie was at the University of California, Davis, working toward a PhD. Eventually, through family ties, they connected with Mark Feichtmeir, founder and owner of Sunray Farm in Sonoma. Managing the farm has been “a dream opportunity,” Matt said.

Maggie says they are uniquely suited to farming.

“With plants,” she said, “you’re calm and quiet, but we’re a balance of extrovert and introvert.”

Asked what kinds of things they grow, Matt’s answer is highly practical.

“We try to grow things that offer a high yield,” he said, adding, with a laugh, We don’t grow kohlrabi, because I don’t want to convince people to try it. Instead we focus on the hits.”

The hits, of course, change with the seasons but recently included a variety of lettuces, French breakfast radishes, green onions, new potatoes and pea shoots. Several weeks ago, they offered the hard-to-find garlic scapes. Plus, Maggie’s a flower grower, offering seasonal bouquets in addition to edibles.

The farmers market, and the opportunities it affords to connect with people, is clearly an experience that Matt and Maggie both enjoy.

“Most customers are return,” Matt said, “and I know them by name. That’s meaningful to me — to have this little bit of community. People love our stuff and that’s why we grow it. We value food ... and we believe in the connection between the food we grow and our health. It feels like a manifestation of what we believe.”

Their customers clearly appreciate Matt and Maggie’s obvious enthusiasm, and their commitment to growing and selling produce at the market.

“It’s personal,” Matt agrees. “This is our work, our life, and we’re sharing it. People recognize and value that. It’s a feel-good thing for us.”

Being at the market also allows them a regular change of pace.

“It’s such a nice complement to the way our days go the rest of the week,” Maggie said. “It’s a good social outlet and rewarding because the context we’re in most of the time is somewhat solitary. Seeing the food goes where it’s intended to go is gratifying.”

Plus, she notes, there’s a lot of warmth and reciprocity among the vendors.

“It’s small, local businesses helping other small local businesses, achieving something of quality that supports each other,” Maggie said. “It’s the best of all worlds.”