More to the Story

 

Start You Sourdough

Miners developed an alternative to manufactured yeast that that would allow them to make softer and fluffier breads. They mixed flour and water with a culture of wild yeast to make it rise and special bacteria to provide an unusual flavor—sourdough. To keep it warm to ferment, miners kept their starters alive and heated by keeping it close to their bodies. Great conversation starter!

 

Home Ec

As social and economic changes due to the industrial revolution took hold, women transitioned from rural and agrarian settings to urban and industrial environments. This shift sparked the

Smith–Lever Act of 1914 that established federal funding for a system of cooperative outreach services to educate the public about new developments in agriculture, home economics, public policy/government, 4-H, coastal issues, and related subjects. Home Economics and Agriculture demonstrators gave classes throughout the country demonstrating ways to be more efficient in the kitchen and on the farm.

 

Boudin Bakery Dough

In 1849, San Francisco baker Isidore Boudin took flour, water, salt, and wild yeast starter that he apparently received from one of the 49ers, and created “San Francisco sourdough.” Today, Boudin Bakery is the oldest continuously operating business and still bakes their sourdough fresh every day using the same mother dough cultivated from a gold miner’s sourdough starter from so many years ago!

 

Sonoma Valley Ag Bits

 

Samuele Sebastiani planted 70 acres of tomatoes in 1919, then built a facility for canning the tomatoes along with other fruits and vegetables. The cannery provided jobs for 100 people during the depression.

 

In 1941, there were 45,000 turkeys in flocks located between Schellville and Glen Ellen.

 

It was common for Sonoma Valley kids to work in the fields picking fruit during the summer. In fact, Dunbar Union Elementary School started classes a week late in 1956 because parents needed their children to continue working on the prune harvest.

 

Sonoma Valley is the birthplace of the California wine industry with the first vineyards dating back to 1824, planted by Franciscan mission fathers. Our valley has the state’s oldest premium winery, Buena Vista, and the longest continuously operating family winery, Gundlach-Bundschu. It’s a prime grape growing region with 13,000 acres of premium wine grapes, home to more than 100 wineries, which produce 25 types of wine, totaling five million cases a year.