Fresh from Our Farmers: Farm Sinclair in Guerneville

Lee Higbee began farming a small portion of a 50-acre forest west of Guerneville in 2011. Today, he has expanded from not quite an acre to three acres and is finding his niche as Farm Sinclair with specialty lettuces, currently the centerpiece of his endeavor.

“It’s been a slow evolution,” he said recently, “because I am farming alone and the lettuces I grow require a lot of work.”

Higbee noticed, as have a lot of customers, that there is a dearth of lettuce at our farmers markets from November through early May. He set out to fill that gap, using a high tunnel - basically, a hoop house you can stand in - to grow adorable little heads of Tom Thumb, a dwarf butter lettuce. These lettuces are delicious and a welcome addition to our early spring markets.

He is experimenting with other varieties, including Ruby Red, a red leaf lettuce; Breen, a small, crisp Romaine; and the larger Buttercrunch, a full-sized butter lettuce that will be available soon.

Higbee is searching for other lettuces underrepresented in our markets, those heirloom varieties that are really good but challenging to grow.

Higbee also grows Japanese mustard spinach, which took a while to hit its stride with customers but is now popular year round. There is a brief gap in production this spring, but it should return soon. Higbee sells all the loquats his two trees -- one planted by his grandmother, another a different variety from a Mexican tree -- produce. He also has Bacon avocados from a long-established tree.

This summer, Farm Sinclair will offer California White garlic and Yukon Gold potatoes.

“You see dozens of varieties of both garlic and potatoes,” he said of local markets, “but no one is growing some of the most familiar varieties. I want to offer them.”

Higbee recently added 50 laying hens to his farm. They sleep in an aviary at night and by day wander the forest, scratching for bugs and doing what chickens do. He has both Welsummers, which lay speckled brown eggs, and Black Minorcas, small black hens that lays white eggs. He hatches some, too, to replace the hens taken by predators in the forest. The flock produces enough to provide eight to 10 dozen eggs for each of the three markets he attends each week.

Currently, you’ll find Farm Sinclair at the Sebastopol Farmers Market, but likely on a temporary basis. He’s not a member vendor and will attend until those vendors who are members start their season.

Farm Sinclair, founded in 2011 and owned and operated by Lee Higbee, attends the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market on Wednesday and Saturday. He attends the Russian River Farmers Market in Guerneville on Thursday afternoons during its season, which has not yet been announced for 2015. To reach him directly, email lee.higbee@FarmSinclair.com

E-mail Michele Anna Jordan at catsmilk@sonic.net. You’ll find her blog, “Eat This Now,” at pantry.blogs.pressdemocrat.com.