Wingbeats Farm, located in Northwest Petaluma, is a small family farm specializing in diverse fruit and specialty vegetable crops. They have created a thriving habitat on their farm for pollinators and birds, which led them to their farm’s name. 

Elaine Carlson and her husband purchased the 5 acre property where Wingbeats Farm now thrives in 1988. Elaine is a retired biologist, specializing in academic research, but also trained in agriculture at Shone Farm (Santa Rosa Junior College), and her husband, Bob, is a retired chemist. They initially began planting fruit trees for their family to enjoy, with the vision of having fresh fruit available year round. They space out ripening dates of their fruit varieties to make this possible and have an incredibly diverse range of fruit growing on the farm. They quickly realized that they had more fruit than their family could eat and started to work with local restaurants and food banks to share the extra fruit with their community. community. Their interests have expanded to vegetable crops, including unique, hard to find varieties and new or novel ones as they become available.

FEED has been a part of Wingbeats Farm’s business for many years, helping to connect the farm to buyers in the area and beyond. They offer very unique products and often smaller amounts of a diverse set of fruits and vegetables, rather than a large amount of one item. FEED has been integral in finding buyers for the more unique and specialty fruits. Their farm is a small operation, with most of the work being done by Elaine and her brother, Dave. FEED has helped them to share their fruit, grown with care and intention, with their greater community.

Photos: Paige Green Photography

The farm itself is not only known for its diverse fruit and specialty vegetable offerings, but also for its focus on habitat. There are over 40 bird boxes around the property and flowers blooming year round to provide habitat for pollinators. Their name alludes to the abundance of birds found on the farm and the integral part those birds play in the success of the farm. They never use pesticides or sprays on the farm and partly attribute the success of their crops to the birds, which help protect them from insects and other pests. For example, there is always a raven couple living on the farm, which helps to keep crows away (a common challenge for fruit growers). When on the farm, you can almost always hear the sound of birds flying around, which led them to their name!