Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa donates barn to Tierra Vegetables

Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa (SMCSR) has donated a 2,000 square foot agricultural barn to Tierra Vegetables for use at the their farm on Airport Blvd. The barn is currently located on the northwest corner of Mark West Springs Road on the new Sutter hospital site. Work began this week to dismantle the barn, load to a flat bed truck and move to the Tierra Vegetables’ farm.

"Sutter sees donating the barn to Tierra Vegetables as a great opportunity to reuse something of value while promoting sustainable agriculture. The barn is not a historical landmark, but a great example of twentieth century Sonoma County rural agricultural history. We are pleased to help it be reused," explained Mike Purvis, Chief Administrative Officer at Sutter Medical Center of Santa Rosa.

Tierra Vegetables has been farming diversified vegetables in Sonoma County for 30 years and plans to use the barn for dry storage and eventually, for their farm stand. They plan to move the barn from Mark West Springs Road north on Highway 101 to their 17-acre farm, owned by the Sonoma County Agricultural and Open Space District and located at the Airport Blvd on-ramp of Highway 101.

"Our farm is a great example of sustainable agriculture and a wonderful community asset. We supply healthy and fresh food to the local community and welcome them to walk the field to see where their food comes from. This barn fits with our sustainable model by reusing an old barn instead of building a new one," said Evie Truxaw of Tierra Vegetables.

Tierra Vegetables is appealing to the public for financial assistance in helping pay for the cost of relocating the barn. “The cost of relocating the old barn is substantially more than the cost of building a new barn. It would be cheaper and faster to build a new one but we believe our community is committed to sustainable principles and this barn is just the right project to rally around,” explained Truxaw.

Tierra Vegetables’ website has a donation page accepting public contributions to help relocate the barn and they urge the public to visit the website and donate at www.tierravegetables.com.