Grapes, Eggs, Meat, & More
Full Circle Farming at Inland Ranch in Redwood Valley
by Torrey Douglass
Every good farm has at least one dog. They can serve as doorbell, intruder deterrent, pest hunter, livestock steward, and just good company. Not a bad exchange for some daily kibble and affection.
Jessica Taaning-Sanchez, who goes by Jessie, clearly knows the value of a good farm dog. She’s been farming Inland Ranch for the past 36 years, always with a canine cohort by her side. These days it’s Cincin, a terrier beagle cross. When one of her pups chases their last stick into the great beyond, Jessie commemorates its life and loyalty by burying it by the pond and stationing one of her giant rose quartz rocks above its grave. A line of five of the stunning geologic gems sits among flowers following the edge of the pond, a testament to her years spent on the ranch, working with a dog by her side.
Jessie loves the flowers almost as much as the rocks, evidence of the variety of beautiful things the earth can provide. She was 19 when she married Thomas, a man from the city who bought the 15 acre property in Redwood Valley. It included 12 acres of vines, so Jessie managed the farm and tended bar while Thomas continued to work in San Francisco, commuting back home on the weekends.
Working the ranch was a natural fit for Jessie, who grew up in Redwood Valley since the age of 5. Her dad was a teacher and her mother a regional secretary for CalFarm Insurance, raising three kids and tending their gardens along with meat animals like ducks, pigs, sheep, and chickens. Her mom canned, and her father fished and hunted. She estimates 70% of the family’s food was raised, grown, or foraged.
After growing up witnessing the essential relationship between food and the land that produces it, it’s natural that Jessie would choose to manage her vineyards organically. The ranch was certified in 1991 by CCOF, and not long after Jessie entered into a handshake deal with Frey Vineyards Winery, the first organic winemakers in the country. “They are an incredible family to deal with,” says Jessie, who continues to grow Cabernet and a bit of French Colombard grapes for Frey to this day.
It’s hard to make a living on farming alone, even when the crop is premium wine grapes, so Jessie tended bar for 25 years on top of her ranch duties. Her easy laugh, straightforward nature, diligent work ethic, and low BS tolerance makes her well suited to both. It was many years before she left bartending for good to farm full-time, and lots of little steps got her to the point where she could do that.
It started when Jessie became involved with the local 4-H program through her son. The leader had passed away suddenly, and she stepped up to manage the pig program. While she isn’t the program head anymore, she continues to raise piglets for the 4-H and FFA members, who receive them when they are 60 lbs and continue caring for them until they weigh 280 and are ready to show. Afterwards, the members sell their animals at the local Livestock Auction during fair time. In the early days, Jessie would bring her retired sows to auction as well, where they would fetch a paltry 30¢ per pound—not a great return. So she reconsidered her options and decided to transport some sows to Redwood Meats in Eureka for butchering, with the intention of creating a line of organic pork sausages.
Jessie’s flagship sausage was “Gloria’s Italian,” made from a recipe by Gloria Thompson, a longtime family friend with Italian heritage. She also makes a sweet sausage using anise and fennel that’s inspired by Mario’s, a popular local Italian restaurant where Jessie had worked in the past. A sage sausage followed, based on a Jimmy Dean recipe, then two spiced sausages—a mild chorizo and a spicy chipotle. Keeping both the meat and the spices 100% organic makes the sausages exceptionally flavorful and popular with foodies, and their success inspired Jessie to keep expanding.
With the popularity of the sausages, Jessie expanded into other meats and then produce, so that today Inland Ranch is a veritable cornucopia of local food. The front of the property is graced by the vineyards, followed by rows of crops—peppers, brassicas, garlic, artichokes, basil, onions, tomatoes, potatoes, and much more. An irrigation pond is next, with an expansive willow tree providing shade over the aforementioned dog graves. The home and work buildings are just beyond the pond, followed by structures for laying hens and farrowing pigs, a hay barn, another plot of land for crops, and, lastly, fenced sections for sheep, feeder steers, horses, and a couple of mules.
Jessie thinks of her work as “full circle farming,” which recycles the animal manure into compost for her crops, enriching the soil while reducing waste. The work involved in this type of diversified farming is endless, yet Jessie describes herself as “spoiled.” “I like working for myself,” she muses, as she waters the flowers beside the pond. “And things feel solid. I’m grateful for that, since the restaurant and bar business has flatlined.” Going back to tending bar to stay in the black isn’t an option during COVID times.
Unlike so many businesses, sales have increased for the ranch during the pandemic, up 30% from last year as more people want local, trusted sources for their meat. One popular customer segment includes former vegetarians who have been advised to eat meat for health reasons. The quality and flavor that comes from well-raised, organic animals can’t compare to Big Ag’s equivalent.
While Jessie heads up this multifaceted operation, it requires a lot of hands to function. After Thomas, her first husband, passed twenty years ago, she married Joe, a man with a talent for construction and captaining heavy equipment. The ranch employs one full-time farm worker, Marin, for 50 hours a week. Jessie’s brother and sister-in-law tend their table at some of the farmers markets that serve as their primary sales channel. The ranch vends at seven markets in total, with only Tuesday off, traveling all over the county to sell their produce alongside organic eggs, pork sausage, lamb, and beef.
The markets give Jessie a chance to connect with her customers, one of her favorite aspects of running the farm. “I like feeding people and selling them good, nourishing food,” she reflects. “And the fellow vendors are all wonderful people. We have a good time.”
With 36 years of ranching and farming behind her, Jessie shows no signs of slowing down. The pond is seeing some upgrades—Joe’s working on a palapa next to it that will provide shade for an outdoor barbeque patio, and a fancy high-powered pump is on track to be installed for frost- and fire-protection. The ongoing demands of seeding, weeding, and feeding, not to mention the road hours spent driving south to Petaluma for bulk purchases of organic feed and north to Eureka to butcher the animals, all make for long days. It’s doable, though, as long as one has a kaleidoscope of flowers to lift the spirit, home-grown food to feed the body, and a sweet and stalwart companion in the form of a good-natured dog.
Find Inland Ranch at most of the county farmers markets. Keep in touch with Inland Ranch on their facebook page: facebook.com/pg/inlandranchorganics
