A Visit to Farm Girl Nursery in Novato

This Saturday we finally got a chance to stop by the new Farm Girl Nursery in Novato's Indian Valley neighborhood. This charming little nursery and farm is the perfect place to visit with the kids. You can meet some animals, including pigs, chickens, rabbits, horses, and a baby goat; shop for heirloom seeds and seedlings, produce, and gardening tools; and see exactly where your food comes from.

A trip to Farm Girl Nursery is a fun outing. The kids had a great time meeing the animals, seeing all the different types of vegetables, fruits, and flowers growing, and even got to snack on carrots pulled right out of the ground.

Owner Lisa Marvier is delightful and takes pleasure in showing visitors around the small farm. She introduced us her heritage chickens and pot-bellied pigs, and even dug some carrots out of the ground that she gave to our kids to eat. She also has numerous educational activities for kids planned at the nursery, including upcoming classes and a summer day camp that sounds like it's going to be a blast (for updates, sign up for their email list at the nursery or follow Farm Girl Nursery on Facebook).

The expansive garden at Farm Girl Nursery is planted with all sorts of fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, strawberries, snow peas, carrots, fava beans, and almost anything else you can think of. Produce from the farm is available for purchase, and later on in the season you'll be able to go there, grab a basket, and pick your own.

At the rear of the garden, near the red vintage Chevy pickup, is a rustic but elegantly decorated shed where you can browse gardening tools and books, seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Seeds4Needs (a project started by Marvier's 11-year-old son Carson to raise money for racehorse rescue), garden decor, and more.

Farm Girl Nursery is open on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 10 am to 4 pm only. It's located in Novato at 100 Pacheco Avenue, which is just off Indian Valley Road.

To get there, take Highway 101 to the Delong Avenue exit, and head west into Novato. Delong becomes Diablo Avenue. Follow Diablo until it intersects with HIll Road. Turn left on Hill Road, then right on Indian Valley Road. Pacheco Avenue will be about half a mile down on your right. Parking is along the street on Pacheco Avenue.

For more information on Farm Girl Nursery, call them at (415) 730-6917 or visit their Facebook page. Thanks Lisa, for your hospitality—my kids are still talking about their visit to Farm Girl Nursery!