Even with a fire, a death and amid a pandemic, this Carmichael farm stand rolls on

Farmers Wife is the kind of farm stand where the dogs get biscuits, the kids get grapes and the owner of 29 years, Rosemarie Martell, remembers your name.

The 79-year-old Martell has continued to work though the COVID-19 pandemic, 12 hours a day, seven days a week, as is usual for the six months out of the year that Farmers Wife is open from mid-April to Halloween.

“It’s intense,” said Martell. “We opened a little late this year, that’s all.”

Set on 7 acres off Winding Way in Carmichael, Farmers Wife has grown and sold fresh fruit and vegetables for generations in Sacramento County. Martell starts her produce in a small nursery, plants it with the help of her grandsons and gardener, and by May she is selling her plants as well as produce from the surrounding area to a loyal following that she considers family.

“I know what they want, they want the peaches,” Martell said, pointing to two regulars at the stand, and they agreed the peaches she sells are the best from the area.

Social distancing measures have been put in place at Farmers Wife. Customers are encouraged to wear face coverings, there is tape on the sidewalk to delineate proper spacing in line and a plexiglass shield was put up by Martell’s son at the checkout. Martell’s main staff support during the pandemic has been family members and close friends, or “free-labor,” as she put it. Her paid staff have stayed home to wait out the pandemic.

“For me, personally, I’m not afraid,” Martell said, having lived through tuberculosis and polio epidemics. “I know it’s a dangerous thing, but you can be safe, and do your part. We need to keep California going, it’s the food basket of the world.”

The pandemic is but one of the obstacles that German-born Martell has faced over the roughly three decades she has owned the stand, including the loss of her husband Gordon last fall.

“Everyone has obstacles to face,” said Martell. “But what a blessing, we were married 60 years.”

The can-do attitude is par for the course. Farmers Wife burned down in 2015 and they “didn’t miss a day,” according to Martell. With the support of her family and customers, they were able to set up a makeshift stand with tents and tables until a new stand could be built.

More recently, Martell found a feral mother cat and six kittens in her chicken coop.

“I say God is testing me,” Martell laughed, “Now I have to worry about the kittens.”

Keeping Farmers Wife open during the coronavirus pandemic was an easy decision for Martell. She said she feels a responsibility to ensure her employees have a job to come back to when so many are out of work, and that access to fresh local food is more important than ever.

“Eating local is so much safer,” according to Martell. “It’s picked and then you sell it. It doesn’t sit somewhere for a long time in a box.”

Martell said Farmers Wife is much more than a business to her, it is an emotional place with a decades-long history. Because of that history, staying open and ensuring that it continues as an institution in Carmichael is important to Martell.

“Us old-timers know how to work,” Martell said. “Right now it’s not difficult, when it gets to be 115 degrees it gets difficult.”

“She runs circles around us,” said Martell’s daughter-in-law Valerie, who helps at the stand. “She’s very strong.”

If you go

Farmers Wife is located at 5701 Winding Way, Carmichael, 95608.

This story was originally published May 27, 2020 at 10:29 AM.