Comstock's magazine 0620 - June June 2020 | Seite 74

VACAVILLE & SOLANO REGION
back to the
Land
Vacaville’s small farms and outdoor
experiences feed its agritourism ventures
by Jennifer Berry
Minutes from the Vacaville Premium Outlets, small
farms dot the countryside, and local farmers
tend the land. Their labor produces a bounty of
fruits, vegetables and herbs; bundles of lavender
and flowers; olive oil; wine; yarn spun from alpaca fleece; raw
honey; and fresh eggs.
It’s a pastoral image and one Visit Vacaville, a tourism
bureau, is cultivating to define the city as an agritourism destination.
In 2016, the bureau met with the small farmers to better
understand the pulse of local agriculture and measure interest
in an agritourism program. Melyssa Laughlin, Visit Vacaville’s
president and CEO, says the farmers rallied around the idea.
Centrally located in Solano County, Vacaville’s history and
agricultural roots date back to the settlers of the gold rush
era who shipped their harvest to San Francisco and the Sierra
Nevada goldfields, explains Ed King, Solano County’s
74 comstocksmag.com | June 2020