We were once all farmers.

In 1917, my great-great grandfather Riziero Traversi, a Swiss immigrant, sowed the seeds of our family legacy at his 150-acre Dairy Ranch on Old Adobe Road in rural Petaluma. Riziero’s portrait and California Dairy License hang above our shop counter, an ode to our past and present as a family-owned, -built and -operated shop. I founded Fairfax Backyard Farmer in the summer of 2016 when, faced with the prospect of unemployment, I decided to put my freshly dealt hand of manure to use. With a degree in horticulture, I returned to my family’s farming roots and planted the seed that would become this backyard farm shop. Since then, with the help of my father, my children and wife Carol, a community space has slowly taken root. 

We invite you to step beyond the traditional definition of farming by finding new and accessible practices for conscious living in your own home and garden.

Farming is a legacy we all share. We invite you to step beyond the traditional definition of farming by finding new and accessible practices for conscious living in your own home and garden. Even when we take on the “simplest” projects - growing a bag of mushrooms from spore to fruiting flesh, or fermenting cabbage to colorful kraut on your kitchen counter - we begin to replace our role as consumer with the deep satisfaction becoming a producer.

When we view ourselves as the Farmers, we become a part of the cycle of the natural world.  Among the shelves of our shop you will find accessible supplies and guides for the projects and workshops that invite you to reclaim your roots as a Farmer in small but profound ways. From beekeeping to backyard chickens, beer brewing to culturing yogurt, and the study of bats, owls, butterflies and backyard birds — our community of local experts and inspired soon-to-be farmers (that’s you ;) becomes an integral part of our commitment to return to our roots through conscious living in our own homes and gardens.

In today’s culture of ready-made, pre-packaged goods, and processed foods, we can reclaim our roots as farmers, bringing traditional farming practices to our backyards and kitchens.

Jim’s story is not unusual since not that long ago almost everyone farmed. Jim started Fairfax Backyard Farmer, in part, to reclaim his family’s roots, but also to reawaken the community to these common ancestral roots—which reach well beyond the advent of farming to our shared origins as indigenous humans living on this planet. Reconnecting in this way is an intimate and rejuvenating experience.

We experience this intimacy when we work the soil, keep chickens or bees, or watch and house birds in our backyards. It’s also ours when we make traditional foods in our kitchens—growing mushrooms from spores, fermenting sauerkraut, culturing yogurt, or even brewing beer. For the backyard farmer, it’s a rewarding circle. The rituals of rising early to water, of turning compost, of trimming fruit trees after harvest are regenerative practices that feed body and spirit. They sustain us as we play our role in sustaining the holistic system of life.