land is always available for agricultural use. “Losing the opportunities to restore and study the natural environment is not optimal, especially in the coastal zone, which is more sensitive,” says Mendes. It is a challenge to encourage guests to visit rural areas without inviting an overwhelming amount of traffic. “Not everybody with a farm or ranch engages in agritourism, but there is space for more property owners in Marin County to do so. They and their guests stand to benefit from it,” says Mendes. Creating new experiences North Bay ag businesses keep their offerings fresh by developing new opportunities to experience agriculture in rural areas. Ana Hernandez, co-owner of Grove 45 Olive Oil in St. Helena, recently started offering opportunities to harvest olives. “We use a big brush with a long handle that looks like a rake. We brush the trees with it to get the olives to come down. It’s pretty hard work, but it’s a lot of fun when you do it in a group. We partner with Sidecar Memories to bring guests over to explore the grove in motorcycle sidecars and do an olive oil tasting afterward,” says Hernandez. Hernandez says many of her guests are local, coming from Calistoga. “The olive harvest starts the last week of October and runs through early December. It’s perfect timing. It’s something new when everybody is done with grapes,” says Hernandez. Webster Marquez, owner of Bohemian Creamery in
Ana Hernandez, co-owner of Grove 45 Olive Oil, harvests olives from trees at Spottswoode Winery in St. Helena. [Photo courtesy Grove 45 Olive Oil]
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