Down on the farm in the Anderson Valley

KAREN MISURACA

The agrarian lifestyle comes to life at the many farms and markets in this enchanted region

On an early-morning drive northwest from Cloverdale on Highway 128, fog from the nearby Mendocino Coast creates a magical scene of mossy oak forests on steep hillsides, and old barns and farmhouses lost in the mist. Soon, redwoods rise in the distance, the Anderson Valley drops open, and vineyards begin to roll in great waves under sunny skies.

The crystalline days of October and November are the best times to wander the farms and markets of this valley, when apples and pears are piled up at the roadside stands and the grapevines, maples, alders and oaks are in their full red and gold raiment. Although you’ll miss the pandemonium and the fun of the grape harvest, you also miss the crush of traffic and tourists –– summer weekenders on their way to the Victorian town of Mendocino, and wine tasters heading for some of the 25-plus wineries that specialize in pinots and bubbly.

Sheep, goats, cheese and wine

A good place to begin afall expedition is Pennyroyal Farm, just before you reach the main one-horse town of Booneville. The gates of the farm open to reveal vegetable gardens, miniature “Babydoll” sheep nibbling at the weeds beneath the grapevines and a new wine-tasting and cheese-making building, opened just this spring.

Unique here are the twice-daily tours of the goat barns, the gardens and the creamery. Visitors watch through wide glass windows as cheesemaker Erika McKenzie-Chapter transforms the daily sheep and goat milk into luscious, small-batch farmstead-style cheeses –– Velvet Sisters, Boot Corners, Boontner’s Blue and more, all named after the local “Boontling” dialect that was spoken in these parts in the early 19th century.

This is a great family destination, as kids love to snuggle up to the goats in the hay barn and, in the springtime, to pet and cuddle the lambs and baby goats. Generous cheese plates and wine tasting are offered, alfresco at picnic tables or indoors at tables with farmyard views.

Old orchards, country cottages

Scattered in a nearly century- old orchard, sweet cottages at Philo Apple Farm are hideaways for couples, families and foodies, with sell-out Stay-and-Cook weekends, summer camp for kids and Family Farm Weekends.

Owners Sally and Don Schmitt founded what became the world-famous French Laundry restaurant in Yountville in the late 1970s, with Sally the chef and Don the sommelier (and town mayor). These days, they have their hands full nurturing 1,800 or so heirloom, organic apple trees and harvesting the bright Pink Pearl; the tart pie apple, Northern Spy; the Gravenstein, which originated in the 1700s; the deep purple Arkansas Black, and more rare varieties.

Kids love the bunny hutches and the brightly painted gypsy wagon here, getting lost amid the arbors, nooks and crannies around the property adjacent to the redwood preserve of Hendy Woods State Park. Visitors are welcome to stop at the farm stand to taste and buy apples, homemade ciders, chutneys, jams and juice.

Gowan’s Oak Tree Fruit Stand is another must-stop for heritage apples, grown in apple and pear orchards tended since 1876. In the early 1900s, the family packed up their horse-drawn wagon with two teams of horses and set out on 30 miles of dirt road to sell on the Mendocino coast.

In the 1930s, Grandma Gowan would sit under an oak tree in Philo and sell her apples from boxes on the ground.

Today’s roadside stand offers Dixie-cup apple cider frozen pops and jugs of house-made cider (hard cider, too), as well as 83 kinds of apples and dozens of varieties of plums, pears and berries

in season.

The pig prevails

The bounty of organic produce, foraged fungi, hand-made cheeses and free-raised meats and poultry come together with the valley’s legendary wines at The Bewildered Pig, a rustic, yet sophisticated, mid-valley eatery at “TownsEnd” in Philo (population 400). A former estate chef for Peter Michael and Kuleto Estate wineries, Chef Janelle Weaver recently opened the Pig in the restored Floodgate roadhouse, offering dinners Thursday through Saturday, and Sunday brunch. Weaver prowls the local farmsteads and ranches and hobnobs with coastal fishermen to get ingredients for such hearty chow as Covelo Ranch short ribs with Canvas Ranch farro; pâté from Mendocino Heritage Pork; and Fort Bragg albacore tartare.

Last gasp in Booneville

On their way home, loaded down with apples and pears, fresh cheeses and a bottle of wine or two, foodies make a stop at the Booneville Farmers Market, held Saturday mornings at the Booneville Hotel. Live music sets a friendly tone as growers from around the valley and along the coast sell their produce and flowers, olive oils, baked goods, seafood, cheeses and meats.

Up the road a few doors, the diminutive Boont Berry Farm Store holds forth every day in an old barnboard building, selling local organic produce and eggs, homemade bakery items and eathere or takeaway picnic grub.

Just down the block, in a century- old, peaked-roof building, Farmhouse Mercantile is your grandpa’s general store, with a 21st century vibe. Browse here for hand-hewn, wooden rolling pins, kitchen implements and crafts made by local artisans. Then walk right into the café for coffee drinks and lunches.

Isolated somewhat from the rest of Mendocino County, Anderson Valley residents are known to be on the quirky, recalcitrant side, and they are very protective of their historic villages and valley. From an October issue of the Anderson Valley Advertiser: “About 2 p.m. Sunday, a half-dozen people chanting demands to save the forests walked briskly through Boonville. Four men carrying a redwood sapling were the focus of the display, and a couple of people appeared to be dressed in green, lending the procession a vaguely druidic cast. Spotting my young friend near Boont Berry Farm just as the funereal mini-procession passed from view, I asked him what had just happened. ‘Heepies,’ he explained.”

Karen Misuraca is a Sonoma- based travel writer. Contact her at kmworld@vom.com.