BOLINAS, Calif. — Farmer Annabelle Lenderink credits two things for her career: learning from an extraordinary Portuguese gardener and spending time as an apprentice in a New Orleans kitchen.

“The man was an amazing gardener from the island of Madeira who could make anything grow,” she said. Madeira is a Portuguese island off the coast of Africa.

“Second, after college in New Orleans I did an apprenticeship in a kitchen in New Orleans that was staffed by all French chefs,” she said.

She began growing herbs and tomatoes for fun and thinking this might be a good way to make a living.

However, there was hardly any organic agriculture in Louisiana, so she moved to California and began work at Star Route Farm in Bolinas, Marin County, north of San Francisco. It is now the oldest continuously certified organic farm in the state, according to the farm’s website.

Warren Weber had founded the farm in 1974 and grew a variety of crops including lettuces, potatoes, herbs, pumpkins and squash. At first, he sold his crops wholesale and later switched to selling directly to restaurants.

Two farms

Weber expanded to Thermal in the California desert to retain his restaurant customers through the winter with the same roster of basic crops — plus little gem lettuce, spinach, romaine lettuce, frisee salad greens and escarole.

The farm in Bolinas has 100 acres — 40 acres are farmed. About 80 acres are farmed near Thermal.

Both irrigation setups are similar — overhead sprinklers with a small amount of drip.

In addition, he discovered the sandy desert soil was perfect for growing carrots, which have become a huge favorite. After the gem lettuce, they are No. 2 on the list of biggest sellers.

Also grown are beets, melons, eggplant and shishito peppers, which would not thrive in cool and foggy Bolinas, and Medjool dates.

“Warren was both smart and lucky to have such a competent and resourceful farm manager, Annabelle Lenderink, for so many years,” said Lulu Meyer, director of operations at Foodwise, which runs the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market in San Francisco. “When he sold the farm to the University of San Francisco in 2017, Annabelle and many of the farm crew in Bolinas and Thermal stayed on to continue the amazing legacy of Star Route Farms.”

Game-changer

A visitor from Chez Panisse, a Berkeley, Calif., gourmet restaurant, proved to be a game-changer.

“The Chez Panisse scout visited one day and pointed to a row of lettuces and said, ‘I want those,’” Weber said.

He replied that they would be ready in a few weeks and she said, “No, no, we want them now, the size they are now.”

Star Route has since expanded to grow a wide range of crops: two sizes of whole head baby lettuce, little gem lettuce, red butter and romaine lettuce, spinach, frisee and escarole, pumpkins, squash, herbs, beans, fingerling potatoes, radicchios, artichokes, radishes, onions, shallots, broccoli, kohlrabi, cabbage, Meyer lemons, cucumbers, frilly mustards, edible chrysanthemum greens, purslane, stinging nettles, kale and chard.

“For over 24 years Star Route Farms has been selling their beautiful crops at our Saturday Ferry Plaza Farmers Market. Star Route’s founder, Warren Weber, is a true legend of the organic farming movement,” said Meyer, of Foodwise.

Hometown: Bolinas, Calif.

Occupation: Farm manager, Star Route Farm

Education: Bachelor’s degree in history, Tulane University

Website: www.starroutefarms.org

Quote: “My real love in this business is to find crops that people remember eating as children, maybe in a faraway place, a taste of home.”