Karen Taylor tends to her backyard veggie garden.
"Of all the things I've done in my life," Sharon said, "what I
really loved was being in the dairy business."
When it came time to retire and sell nearly 400 head, Sharon
had a tough time letting go. "She cried when she watched the
cows taken off the ranch," Karen said.
In the years since returning to the land, Karen and John
have transformed Sharon's conventional dairy into the certified
organic operation it is today. They kept the family's "B" brand
while renaming the property "Bivalve Ranch" after the old
Bivalve railroad stop. They are committed to honoring Sharon
and Bill's legacy while also finding their own niche to sustain
the land and sustain their family as well. They started with the
75 cows that didn't sell because they were either too old or too
young, pregnant or lame.
"We didn't create hospital beds," John said, "but we might as
well have."
John himself grew up on a Sonoma County apple and wine
grape ranch, but chose to study engineering and business at
Bivalve provides milk for Clover's
Certified Organic Line of products
Twelve year old Camilla (back) and
five year old Eva with the ranch's
horse.
udders and hosed their hooves with warm water.
Cal Poly. Managing a herd was something new altogether. With
"We used the little tricks the old-timers used," he said.
good advice from neighbors and relatives on how to improve
At the same time, John invested in technology to track
the health of the herd and produce ample, quality milk, he
the productivity, quality and health of his animals. From his
patiently walked the heifers, milked them slowly, washed their
iPhone, he gets reports and alerts on feeding schedules, milk
32
FLOURISH • SUMMER 2013
