For sister-and-brother team Lee and Wayne James of Tierra Vegetables, the last few years have been one emergency after another. Starting with the Tubbs Fire in 2017, Sonoma County’s devastating wildfires have chipped away at their production capabilities and customer base, while the pandemic reduced their farmers market sales by over half, as restaurants closed their doors. Adding to this “perfect storm” of factors, the farm’s water pump broke two years ago, significantly reducing their well’s irrigation output and the amount of crops they could grow.
Now after 40 years of farming, they are fighting to keep the 20-acre sustainable farm with its remarkable diversity of heirloom crops afloat, so they can transition it to the next generation. This week they launched a GoFundMe campaign, asking their community for help to repair the well and get the farm on stable ground.