Sonoma Working Garden.

A vineyard's working garden — olives, lavender, sage.

Plate
14
Location
Sonoma County, California
Site
3.6 acres
Scope
II · Design + build

Status

Design + build · Scope II · seventh year of Stewardship

Begin a similar brief All plates

I.PLATE 14 · INTRODUCTION

The brief,
in short.

Three-and-a-half acres adjacent to a working vineyard. The brief was practical: a working garden that staff could harvest from and visitors could walk in. We built an olive grove, a long lavender alley, and a working herb section that the chef uses weekly.

II.I. THE BRIEF

The brief

Adjacent to a 40-acre vineyard. The owners wanted a garden that staff could harvest from for the on-site dining room and that visitors could walk in. The constraint was practicality: nothing precious, nothing fussy, everything had to earn its place.

Mission olive grove — PLATE 14.A · Mission olives, November harvest

III.II. THE SITE

The site

Three and six-tenths acres on a south-facing slope. Hot, dry, drained. The wind comes off the ridge in the late afternoon. The vineyard sits at the bottom of the slope; the working garden sits between the road and the vineyard, terraced into the hillside.

IV.III. THE INTERVENTION

III

The intervention

Three terraces. Top terrace is the olive grove — 22 Mission olives in rough rows, harvested every November. Middle terrace is a long lavender alley running north-south. Bottom terrace is the herb working garden — rosemary, thyme, oregano, sage, plus annual rotations the chef plants from seed.

Herb working terrace — PLATE 14.C · Working herb terrace, kitchen access

V.IV. THE PLANTING

The planting

Olives are the structure. Lavender 'Grosso' for cut and dry. Cleveland sage at the wind-edge. The herb terrace is the working zone — rosemary and thyme in permanent beds, the rest annual. We added a stand of Stipa gigantea at the road edge in year four; it softens the entrance.

VI.V. MAINTENANCE PLAN

Maintenance plan

Year-round. Olives harvested every November (we coordinate the press). Lavender cut in July (sold at the on-site shop). Herbs maintained alongside the kitchen team — they cut, we keep the bones. Annual review delivered each February before the spring planting cycle.

VII.MATERIALS · PLANT SCHEDULE

4 MATERIALS · 6 SPECIES

MATERIALS