Learn more about Nature's Tune Farm
Nature's Tune Farm operates on two and a half acres of beautiful valley bottom land in southern Mendocino County, on the northern California coast. The farm is cradled to the west and east by forested slopes and sits just above the Garcia River.
We are proud to serve the southern Mendocino coast. Providing for our community seasonal abundance in the form of fresh vegetables, fruits and cut flowers. Our focus is on direct sales through our Honor system farm stand and Gualala farmers market, as well as supplying local restaurants and stores.
The People
Nature's Tune is run by us, Rio and Emma, a sweetheart farming couple.
Rio is the mastermind and visionary of Natures Tune. He started this farm in 2016 with a BS degree in Soil Science from Humboldt state and years of farming experience on three very differently run farms in Northern California all under his belt. Rio loves the outdoors, wild places and a challenge. Farming is self directed and is both very academic but also grounding. Rio farms to feel connected to the earth and the elements and to grow healthy food for our community.
Emma became involved with the Farm in 2019 as funding for her previous work in watershed monitoring and restoration slowly declined. She comes to farming from a background of conservation biology and working as an environmental scientist. She loves the ecosystems she was born and raised in adjacent to the farm and all the wild creatures that use our field. When she was a little girl and was asked "what do you want to do as a grown up", Emma would imagine picking armloads of flowers and arranging them. Emma's love of flowers has meant a big expansion in floral offerings from Nature's Tune over the last few years. She plans, plants, picks and arranges the flowers we grow. Dahlias are a favorite and Emma's hooked.
Seasonal Offerings
Our products reflect the seasons as well as availability and abundance. We typically begin our season in spring. First market displays reveal: bouquets of ranunculus and spring flowers, carrot bunches, beets, broccoli crowns, cabbages, salad greens, lettuces, green onions, and other leafy things. Mid-summer through early autumn (June-October) is our most abundant time. This is when the strawberries are sweet and juicy, and the tomatoes, sweet corn, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, green beans are at their best. Flowers of every color and shape abound. After October, we start slowly winding down and returning to winter roots and greens, winter squash and pumpkins and heirloom mums.
We offer our produce and bouquets at our honor system farmstand in Point Arena, CA and at the seasonal Gualala farmers market. We supply the locally grown flower bouquets at the Surf Market in Gualala between May-
Oct and changing veggies and berrys. Please inquire via email about bulk food ordering or DYI flower buckets.
We are never content to simply say, “good enough”, but instead, endeavor to research and implement better practices. Our goal always to practice farming techniques that sequester carbon as well as promote biodiversity. All while providing the healthiest, nutrient, and mineral dense produce we can. In 2024, we are moving from medium till and to No-till/Low-till growing methods, which we have been practicing in our two hoop houses the past few years.
Certified by Mendocino Renegade
We are happy to be certified by our local ‘Mendocino Renegade Program.’ Which ensures that our practices and inputs are both safe for people and the environment. Our Growing Practices are focused on sustainability, soil health and producing high quality produce. We utilize compost and winter cover crops to manage soil fertility. Flowers are planted at regular intervals to encourage beneficial insects and pollinators. When appropriate we use ‘dry farming’ techniques and drip irrigation to reduce water use. The dynamic nature of farming and challenging new climate requires us to be adaptable and our crops resilient. By law, we cant call ourselves "organic" but we follow
