From Register Staff

Long Meadow Ranch will become an anchor tenant in the Oxbow Public Market, a collection of food stalls, produce stands and other vendors that will be at 600 First St., adjacent to Copia.

With the planning commission approval in hand, the project will break ground in time for a planned opening in the late summer of 2007. The new public market overlooks the Napa River, with pedestrian access from Copia along a walkway adjacent to the river.

Long Meadow Ranch is an innovative purveyor of find food and organic farming operation on 650 acres high on the slopes of the Mayacamas mountains where it produces wines, extra virgin olive oil, grass-fed beef, eggs, and heirloom fruits and vegetables. Long Meadow Ranch produces ultra-premium wines and extra virgin olive oils, under the Long Meadow Ranch Winery, Ranch House Red, Prato Lungo and Napa Valley Select labels.

Long Meadow Ranch was established in 1872 and continues to grow and prosper through the stewardship of current owners Ted and Laddie Hall and their son, Christopher.

The Halls restore and preserve Napa Valley's oldest olive groves and add new plantings of olive trees and vineyards. They have also brought cattle, poultry and vegetables back into commercial production.

Long Meadow Ranch has increased its organic vegetable production capacity through intensive planting and by converting the ranch's original vegetable gardens to commercial herb and flower production. Wine production has expanded with the addition of a soon-to-be-released sauvignon blanc and new plantings of olive trees are now coming into full commercial production.

The LMR Rutherford Gardens roadside stand will reopen in May in a newly constructed pavilion. Located on Highway 29 in Rutherford, the stand will be open on Saturdays from May to November. The stand will feature the full array of the property's vegetables, flowers, and fresh fruits, including heirloom tomatoes, fresh figs, and strawberries.

"We are very pleased that we will soon be able to offer our customers three locations where they can buy our products," said co-owner Laddie Hall. "We will feature a taste bar at both the Oxbow Public Market and Rutherford Gardens (that) will allow customers to taste everything we are selling"

"Excellence through Responsible Farming" is the motto of Long Meadow Ranch, bolstered by the belief that first-rate products can be produced using sustainable, organic farming methods. Long Meadow Ranch does not use herbicides or pesticides and its products are organically grown and certified by the California Certified Organic Farmers.

The Oxbow Market

The new market will be open seven days a week and will feature more than 20 vendors in the main food hall. The project also includes a wine pavilion, several restaurants, a deck overlooking the river and 10 permanent exterior market stalls. The Napa Valley Farmers Market will continue to use the Copia site which will reinforce the Oxbow Public Market's location as a central meeting place for shoppers and producers.

The Oxbow Public Market's mission is to "create a public market of unique character, spirit and content as a place to display and sell organically and sustainably produced local crops, regional specialties and other high quality and unique food products. Oxbow Market also strives to actively support -- through education and community outreach -- sustainable and organic farming practices, owner-operated businesses, local food producers and the agricultural community of the Napa Valley and surrounding regions."

The new 30,000 square-foot project is being led by Steve Carlin, former CEO of Oakville Grocery and project director of the highly successful Ferry Building in San Francisco. The project received its final approval from the Planning Commission April 6.

"We expect the Oxbow Public Market to become a focal point for our community where artisan producers, everyday shoppers, restaurant foragers and visitors will all have the opportunity to buy extraordinary food at reasonable prices for everyday use." said Carlin. "We are delighted that a producer of Long Meadow Ranch's credentials has committed to be a core part of the market."

"We see the Oxbow Public Market as an extraordinary opportunity to present the full array of our products -- including our wines -- to a vibrant group of local and visitor shoppers in an environment consistent with our own mission," said Ted Hall.