Golden Nectar Farm is a two-acre oasis established in the 1990s by Paul Vossen, a respected local fruit tree expert and University of California Cooperative Extension Farm Advisor. Paul introduced a diverse collection of heirloom fruit trees on varying rootstocks to learn which were best suited to Sonoma County.  He also planted an expansive berry garden and a vineyard of rare table grape cultivars. 

In 1997, KJ and Ana Stayton took the helm, guided by the sustainability principles of permaculture and renegerative agriculture -- each year leaving the soil richer and the land more abundant with life than it was the year before.  The Staytons fucosed on cover cropping, mulching, composting and companion planting.  They introduced Chinese and Western medicinal herbs and developed productive vegetable gardens along with glorious pollinator-friendly  flower beds.  They added a yurt for visitors, a cob pizza oven, and a straw-bale casita with a living roof.  You can read more about it in this New York Times article from 2008.

Since 2022, Tamar Cohen and Don Gates have become the latest caretakers of the farm, and like our predecessors we're dedicated to nurturing the land, honoring its legacy and preserving its bounty for future generations.  Neither of us came from farming families, so our learning curve has been steep.  (Tamar has a decades-long career in software development, working for NASA since 2009, while Don comes from a Chinese medicine background.) With support from the local farming community -- wonderful mentors, advisors, our local chapter of UCANR, classes at Shone Farm, Sonoma County's Farm Trails and CAFF -- and with the hands-on labor of friends and family, we've made ourselves at home and embarked upon our own journey towards sustainability, tending our farm in the heart of Sonoma County.

Sharon C.Lint