Sebastopol blueberry farm owner remembered for her passion, generosity

Lorri Duckworth was a woman with a mission.

That mission manifested as a wildly popular blueberry u-pick enjoyed by thousands each summer on her Sebastopol farm that a friend told her was harder to get tickets for than front row seats to The Rolling Stones.

But for Duckworth, the blueberries were a bonus in a much bigger picture according to Craig Anderson, the executive director of external affairs at LandPaths who became friends with Duckworth through their shared love of the land in Sonoma County.

“This is one of those small family farmers, while she loved her produce and her blueberries, she loved even more... seeing people reconnect with local food and our sense of history that comes from tending the land and feeding each other,” said Anderson.

Duckworth died April 25 from cancer. She was 62.

Born in Apple Valley, her family moved frequently when she was a child. When she was 16, they moved to Grant’s Pass, Oregon. There she met Oscar Duckworth.

He said their connection was immediate and that they became inseparable through 40-plus years of courtship and marriage.

They married right out of high school and Lorri started a career in the fashion industry as a buyer, but her dream of a farm was what truly drove her.

But it wasn’t just any farm she was looking for, according to her husband. It was “The Farm” in her mind’s eye that led them on a yearslong search across nine states before they finally found it on Canfield Road in Sebastopol in 2001.

They moved with their young daughters, Snazzy and Lauren, from Marin County to the 82-acre Sebastopol property, which had a 100-year-old farmhouse that was in need of plenty of TLC.

Duckworth poured herself into bringing her vision for the farm to life.

She grew blueberries for wholesale and sold to Oliver's market, but her goal was always to have the property be a u-pick farm, which she started in 2019.

It grew beyond her wildest imagination in 2020 as people looked for community connection in outdoor spaces that felt safe.

Oscar Duckworth said his wife took immense pleasure in the work, which he described as “all consuming.”

She transformed an old goat barn into a cookhouse, which in a 2023 interview she called her “happy place.”

“It meant everything to her because of her passion for cooking,” said Oscar. “Her hundreds of cookbooks were there. She went there to feel good, to cook for her family, for parties, for events. Cooking was her art.”

Guests got to enjoy Duckworth’s edible artwork on u-pick days when she would make blueberry-rosemary focaccia, biscuits with blueberry jam, and her award-winning blueberry ice cream.

“She had a goal of giving an ice cream cone to every student in Sonoma County, and she just about did it,“ said Oscar.

Duckworth hosted hundreds of schoolchildren on field trips to her farm through a partnership with LandPaths, as well as a summer camp through Santa Rosa City Schools. She wanted to especially host children who had never experienced time on a farm.

“She wanted children to understand nature, that the blossom came before the fruit,” said her daughter Lauren.

One of Duckworth’s mantras was that the lesson of teaching children about agriculture should be as long as their arm — that reaching out to pick a blueberry and pop it in their mouths would teach them profound lessons about food and where it comes from.

In addition to schoolchildren, Duckworth developed a close relationship with the firefighters from the Gold Ridge Fire District, inviting them to the farm on u-pick days and donating berries for their pancake breakfasts.

“She was so gracious to share,” said Shepley Schroth-Cary, fire chief with the Gold Ridge Fire Protection District. “I don’t think she ever did it for the money. She really wanted to share agriculture and her passion with others”

Her kindness and compassion was coupled with what Anderson of LandPaths described as her “Joan of Arc spirit,” recalling a time she tangled with local resource agencies over how she was stewarding the creek that ran through her property.

He said Duckworth’s legacy is a message to others, especially young, upcoming farmers.

“You can be successful at the provision of land and food beyond just a commercial enterprise, but a truly world-changing one at that.”

Despite her bold mission, Duckworth shunned the spotlight, preferring to stay in the background on u-pick days, spending her time cooking and watching as families came to the farm to relax and connect with nature.

Friend Sheri Graeber stepped in as a volunteer operations manager to help put in more structure when it became clear the u-pick days were going to be much larger than expected. The farm, at times, hosted as many as 800 people a weekend during peak blueberry season.

At the end of each u-pick day, Duckworth would make homemade pizzas or pasta for the 20 or so volunteers, and everyone would sit together and share a meal, as well as stories about another successful day.

“I always think about looking at her face as we went around the table and told the great stories (from the day),” said Graeber, noting Duckworth loved seeing children grow up as families returned year after year. “You could just tell she loved every single one of them and she was so absorbed.”

Graeber said that Duckworth spent time this past winter in the field pruning blueberry bushes and believed this year was going to be a good year.

She said Duckworth’s family and the volunteers are committed to making sure the u-pick days cherished by so many will continue.

The family will release details about a public memorial service on the Duckworth Family Farm Facebook page later this week.

You can reach Staff Writer Jennifer Graue at 707-521-5262 or jennifer.graue@pressdemocrat.com. On X (Twitter) @JenInOz.