Tenfold Farmstand Community Gathering Space

My name is Catherine Clark, and I am the owner and farmer behind Tenfold Farmstand in Petaluma, California. I started growing organic vegetables on our homestead so we'd have access to the healthiest food possible, without chemicals, wasteful packaging or transportation emissions. I caught the gardening bug and soon had way more food than we could eat. Before I started Tenfold Farmstand I was putting boxes of free zucchini out by the street!

I opened my farm stand when COVID-19 was keeping people out of the grocery stores. My tiny outdoor stand felt like a haven to many, and it soon became a safe place for people to shop, greet neighbors and make new friends. This sense of community has continued to build, to the extent that it's time to relocate to a space that can better accommodate the needs of my customers.

My vision for the farm stand is to provide a welcoming space in which to bring our community together. But the lack of basic infrastructure (parking, electricity, plumbing) has kept me from moving forward. When two of my most loyal customers approached me with the idea of moving my farm stand to the charming old Union School on Red Hill Road in west Petaluma (recently closed after serving the local community since 1895), it felt like a sign that the right time had come to make some changes.

This new expanded location will allow me to partner with local farmers to bring a larger selection of beautiful organic produce, flowers and baked goods to my new farm stand. Supporting small, local farmers, makers, bakers and business people is a passion of mine, so it brings me much happiness to be able to provide them with an outlet for their goods. My vision to make the new space as inviting as possible includes a mobile coffee cart, a bakery cart, a raised bed garden for a children's gardening program, a native plant pollinator garden, picnic tables where friends can gather, being open several days a week, an ongoing program of events and classes held in the old schoolhouse, and so much more.

Big goals like mine come with big expenses. The permits required by the county add up to almost $20,000 alone. As a farmer I think in terms of how many vegetables I'd need to sell to pay for my expenses, and those permits equate to 10,000 heirloom tomatoes, or 5,000 sugar pie pumpkins, 20,000 summer squash...you get the idea! My other costs include ADA compliant garden paths and raised beds, a POS system, website development, insurance, rent, employee wages, picnic tables, groundskeeping, signage...and a hundred other needs.

Your donation not only allows me to expand my small business, it helps so many others in our community reach their goals. In supporting local businesses, you encourage a circular economy: Tenfold Farmstand provides a place for local farmers to sell their produce, providing income which in turn is put back into our community. And, if you've read this far, you probably share my belief that encouraging farmers to grow organically by offering them an outlet for their produce will surely help create a healthier environment for us all.

THANK YOU for reading my story, and for considering a donation to help a small farmer reach a BIG dream.

With much gratitude,

Catherine