We used to live amongst the hills of Sonoma's wine country in the quaint town of Healdsburg. At the time, our two children were younger (as were we!), and we were fervently focused on developing a raw piece of land into a flourishing garden, business, and eventually a home. The project was called Noci Sonoma. But then the catastrophic wildfires hit (four out of those six years we lived there), and then the pandemic hit. We began to ask ourselves some important questions; like why are we creating a hospitality business when we have no skill or desire for customer service?
I mean, my attitude towards customer service should have been a screaming indication, but it took me some distance and sheltering in place to hit me with the truth. I’ll give you an example; let’s say one of those annoying, entitled women (you see, already judging) visited the wine country for her best friend's wedding and booked a tour with me to experience our 24-acre garden in the Dry Creek Valley. And she shows up in high heels and a mini, all drunk from her afternoon of wine tastings. Then, moments into our tour, she starts to complain about how hot she is, how hard it is to walk around (gurl, you wore those shoes!) and the bees buzzing, and the fact she had to carry a bucket and clippers with her newly manicured nails and had to harvest her seasonal garden goods herself (bitch, that’s what you signed up for). Let’s say my first thought was never to be accommodating. You see, NOT my business.
On the other hand, my husband is not nearly as judgmental as me (or can at least hide it better). The truth is, he isn't a people person and would rather keep to himself. But, with that all said, the core of what we were creating and offering was so inspiring to us - we somehow looked past all that. We were developing a gorgeous garden oasis in the middle of the wine country, 10 seasonal gardens, hundreds of fruit trees, summer berries, flowers, herbs, miles of grass pathways, 500ft natural pond, modern designed retail buildings, and so on. We named it "the Edible Garden Adventure Club" for a reason.Â
When we bought the raw land, our initial intention was to build a house and a garden for our family. But, we saw a more significant opportunity to offer a new experience in the Dry Creek Valley of just vines. From the beginning of its inception, we received admiration and encouragement. From just a little farm stand, many people started to sign up to join our membership-based garden club when we only had one seasonal garden and a field of strawberries. Not to mention, we received a ton of press that we never sought. Right at the beginning of the pandemic, we were featured in the April edition of Food and Wine magazine. But it came out a month after the world went upside down, so I am sure you missed it. Here is a link to my Spring recipes from the feature if you wanna.
Our main hurdle, though, was that the development of the 24-acre property we had been chipping away at for those six years always had taken precedence, and we never built a house. Our family of four had been living in an Airstream on the property for over a year, with the initial intention to start building our home finally, but weeks turned into months and then a year with the reality of no house in sight. We were on the hamster wheel to complete the endless tasks of the construction, employees, insurance, permits, violations, and all the drama, struggles, and costs that came with it.Â
But the truth was, underneath it all, we discovered that we wanted to enjoy living this lifestyle we were creating with our kids, not live for making this business work in one of the most expensive parts of the country. The real clarity came when we imagined how many years we would be continuing to fight these battles to make ends meet and how our young children would become teenagers by the time we did. And that, as they say, was that.Â
Now, I have never lived through a pandemic before (shocker), more to the point, any war-like situation. At first, panic and fear overpowered everything. However, once that had passed, we became grateful for how it had kicked us in the ass to make sure we were honest with ourselves and living the life we wanted. Not just continuing blindly in the life we were living. Cause life is over in a blip, so you better check yourself time and time again to make sure you are living the fooooking life you want. And, most importantly, enjoying yourself in the process. Now, years later, we are about to start a new off-grid adventure in the forest of New England. But that is another story entirely.
