Viticulture briefs

Add pruning 101 to the curriculum options at Santa Rosa Junior College.

The college’s Shone Farm is partnering with Bahco, a subsidiary of Snap-On, Inc., to provide students with certification training in professional pruning and lopping tools....

The Sonoma County Grape Growers Foundation and the Sonoma County Winegrowers will hold the 15th annual Sonoma County Regional Pruning Contests and County Pruning Championship on Friday at SRJC Shone Farm beginning at 8:30 a.m. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. Shone Farm is located at 6225 Eastside Road, Forestville.

Read full article in The Press Democrat

Forestville Education Foundation Gala, April 13, 2013

The Spring Fling Gala
Saturday, April 13th, 2013 at Shone Farm
Featuring the music of DGIIN!
Join us at the Forestville Education Foundation's Annual Fundraising Event

All proceeds from this Gala go directly to programs that benefit our students.
Have a great time enjoying good music, fine food & wine, and live and silent auctions while helping our amazing school!

All tickets purchased online will be available at Will Call the night of the Gala.
Each $40 ticket includes: souvenir wine glass, tapas, dessert, water, sodas & music. Wine - $5/glass

Buy tickets and learn more at forestvillefoundation.org

Showing the Goods

...There will be plenty to sing about at this week's Shone Farm 40th anniversary Fall Festival. The Santa Rosa Junior College's 365-acre farm, situated by the Russian River near Forestville, provides students with hands-on experience in growing, maintaining and marketing everything related to farming, from root vegetables to grapes...

Read full article in the Bohemian

Shone Farm's CSA program!

Santa Rosa Junior College’s Shone Farm, the 365-acre west county student farm just off River Road outside Forestville, is now accepting members for its fall season CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) produce box program.  Signup deadline is Monday, Aug. 20. ...The cost for the Fall CSA is $384 for 16 weeks – $24 a week for vegetables, fruit, and a loaf of delicious bread.
A member’s share can be picked up at the SRJC Santa Rosa or Petaluma campuses, The Wineyard at 1305 Cleveland Avenue, or at Shone Farm outside Forestville.
Sign up form (PDF)
(via The Community Voice)

Last Day To Register for Sustainable Winegrowing Field Day

Experts from UC Davis will address the public at Shone Farm in Forestville on Aug. 9.

Sonoma County Winegrape Commission, SRJC Ag and Natural Resources Department and California Sustainable Winegrowing Alliance (CSWA) are co-sponsoring the 12th Annual Sustainable Winegrowing Field Day on Aug. 9. The event will be held at SRJC's Shone Farm and begins at 7:30am. Shone Farm is at 7450 Steve Olson Lane, Forestville.

Read the full article at Patch.com

New agriculture dean wants entrepreneurial spirit for SRJC’s Shone Farm

Entrepreneurial initiatives at Santa Rosa Junior College’s 365-acre Shone Farm in Forestville are likely to expand in the coming years, an effort that the school’s new dean of agriculture and natural resources said will help generate revenue to grow the popular program at a time of historic budgetary constraints...
Read full article in the North Bay Business Journal

Former SRJC president Agrella honored at benefit dinner

Robert Agrella, retired president of Santa Rosa Junior College, was honored for his 22-year tenure Saturday night at a benefit dinner and auction.
The event was held at the Warren G. Dutton Jr. Agriculture Pavilion at the SRJC Shone Farm near Forestville.
 Full article in the Press Democrat

October 23, Harvest Moon Gala, Shone Farm

The Forestville Education Foundation's second annual benefit auction, "Harvest Moon Gala" will be on October 23 at the Shone Farm.

Forestville in the Press Democrat last week

Forestvill was mentioned four times last week in the Press Democrat:

First, I want to quote the obituary of Harry H. Minnich:

Harry H. Minnich was passionate about genealogy and history, and for years enjoyed gathering regularly with friends for coffee in Sebastopol. Minnich, a resident of Sonoma County for 32 years, died Saturday at his home near Sebastopol. He was 69 and died of complications due to emphysema. For more than a dozen years he regularly had his morning coffee at an outside table at Carr’s Drive In in Forestville.

The report of Outside Lands festival in San Francisco mentioned:

About 25 wineries — mostly from Napa and Sonoma counties — will be pouring 75 wines in an area organizers have dubbed Wine Lands. Concertgoers will have many options — syrah, pinot grigio, fumé blanc, zinfandel and others. Iron Horse Winery in Forestville will be pairing its sparkling wines with oysters.

The description of the Gravenstein Apple Fair started off this way:

Thomas Palmertree, a 37-year-old food service worker from Forestville, had a simple but surefire plan for winning the adult category of the apple sauce-eating contest Saturday at the Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol.

Finally, the weekly roundup of events included this note:

Shone Farm in Forestville has launched a farm stand that is open from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursdays at Traverso's Market in Fountaingrove Village. The Forestville farm, which is run by Santa Rosa Junior College, also offers a CSA, or community-supported-agriculture, subscription. Traverso's also sells the wine made from Shone Farm grapes. Traverso's is located at 2097 Stagecoach Road.