With its barn-red storefront, rainbow-colored patio tables, delicious food, assorted gift items and a multitude of endearing farm animals, Crazy Quilt Farms looks like it could have been plucked from the pages of a storybook. The shop is closed while the team helps and works at the Lake County Fair, but will reopen, Wednesday, Sept. 14.
Location: 1215 State Highway 20 in Upper Lake
Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, closed Sunday to Tuesday
More information: 707-264-9651, crazyquiltfarm.com
What kind of business do you get when you take a guy who grew up in the country and put him together with one who spent the last 20 years living in San Francisco?
If you are Lyle and Liam Coburn, the answer is Crazy Quilt Farms in Upper Lake.
With its barn-red storefront, rainbow-colored patio tables, delicious food, assorted gift items and a multitude of endearing farm animals, Crazy Quilt Farms looks like it could have been plucked from the pages of a storybook.
Working with a graphic artist, they were able to create a very distinctive logo that encompasses their business’ offerings. The final product is their barn with bright rainbow-colored beams surrounding it.
According to Liam, choosing a name for the new business was inspired by two things — his and Lyle’s mutual love of musicals, like the 1930s “Billy Rose’s Crazy Quilt” referenced in the musical “42nd Street,” and the irregular shapes, haphazard fabrics, and meticulous embroidery of late 1800s quilts.
“This reminded us of our family,” he said. “We didn’t match, we are city and country, different races and ethnicities, but together we celebrate all our differences. In our eyes, this makes us stronger and something beautiful.”
Since opening last year, their shop is continually filled with the tantalizing aromas of freshly baked goods. They carry an assortment of specially blended loose-leaf teas, like Blackberry Earl Grey and Alex’s Mango Meltdown for $12, and a nice selection of flavorful jams, such as Peach Habanero, and White Peach and Candied Ginger for $6 and $9 each.
The Crazy Quilt Farms team worked at the Lake County Fair over Labor Day weekend and will be taking a few days off before reopening on Wednesday.
Start the day at Crazy Quilt Farms with a hot cup of coffee or tea. Whether your coffee preferences are Americanos, cappuccinos, mochas, lattes, espressos or just plain black, they have you covered. Also, grab a freshly baked pastry. Although fresh cinnamon rolls are available for take-and-bake any day the store is open, Saturday is the only day they are served warm-from-the-oven and freshly baked in-house.
At lunch, be sure to try either Liam's Chicken Salad made with roasted chicken breast, celery, dried fruit, roasted nuts and mayo for $8.50 or Lyle's Salad, made with greens, pears, dried cranberries, Blue cheese and berries, also $8.50. The chicken salad sandwich and the chickpea sandwich are $8 each.
Most ingredients are locally sourced, including fruit, nuts, honey, eggs, dairy and some produce. Much of it comes from their farm where fresh eggs can be purchased for $6 per dozen. There is often a small selection of produce for sale, too.
Non-food items include candles, bars of soap, laundry soap, napkins, teapots, table runners, seasonal items and more. For quilters, they carry a small selection of fat quarters, quilt patterns and notions. There are also several consignment quilts by local crafters on display.
“I love coming here,” Upper Lake resident Alice Chevalier said. “It feels like home and their cinnamon rolls are crazy good.”
Other customers rave about the peanut butter and jelly cookies, like Lacy Deas who said they are the best she has ever eaten, and Tony Barthe,l who calls them “fan-freaking-tastic.”
After hearing it from so many customers, Crazy Quilt Farms has adopted the slogan, “Just like grandma used to make, only better.”
Before its current incarnation, the Crazy Quilt Farms property had been known as Pet Acres, a popular pet and feed store owned and operated for 43 years by Lyle’s parents, Sharon and Chuck Coburn. The two still live on the property where they raised their five children and help out around the new business whenever they can.
Grandpa’s Granola, a top-selling item in the store, was named in honor of Chuck’s resourcefulness to not be wasteful and, instead, use whatever he has on hand. A one-pound package is $12.
Lyle, 45, and Liam, 46, met online at the beginning of the pandemic during the state’s shelter-in-place mandate and hit it off immediately. As they got to know each other better, they discovered they had the perfect combination of experience to make a business like this work.
Lyle’s background is primarily in community event planning, retail sales and restaurant management.
A graduate of Upper Lake High School, Lyle honed his hospitality skills as general manager or assistant manager at several local restaurants. He is also the former general manager of the Lakeside Family Fun Center and former owner of the One Stop Party Shop.
“I love parties, as well as planning and organizing events, so the party shop felt like the thing to do,” he said. “We handled everything from wedding planning to wigs, tuxedos, makeup and more. Unfortunately, Amazon came along so I decided it was time to close.”
Liam grew up in Winters, but most recently lived in San Francisco. His artistic eye and skills as a professional makeup artist for 20 years have been instrumental in the welcoming displays throughout the store, while his passion for baking and cooking has turned out to be a vital part of what makes Crazy Quilt Farms so special.
“Much of what I’ve learned in the kitchen was not from any professional training. It was from my mom and my maternal grandma,” Liam said. “PBS also played a huge part in my love for cooking.”
Both are also staunch supporters of the Lake County Fair. Liam is the current publicity director of the Lake County Fair Foundation and Lyle’s 4-H experience has resulted in him holding several contracted positions at the fair, including livestock superintendent, horse show superintendent and exhibit superintendent.
The Crazy Quilt Farms mobile food barn can be found at various events around Lake County, including the Lake County Quilt Show, Lake County Rodeo, Lake County’s Farmers’ Finest (farmers market) in Lakeport, North Lake Fall Festival and Parade, and the Old Time Machines Car Show, to name a few.
One of the other things that brought them together and cemented their relationship was the value they each put on the importance of family and shared family time. The Coburns say the real driving force behind opening the business was their desire to spend more time together as a family.
Several years ago, Liam adopted a baby boy who was born with a rare chromosomal disorder that confines him to a wheelchair. Connor is now 4 and recently entered transitional kindergarten at a local school.
They have another young son named Alex, who was born with a clubbed foot that has since been medically corrected. He just turned two at the end of August and loves spending time with his grandpa Chuck.
The four-acre farm is currently home to more than 100 animals, all of whom have been named after characters in popular musicals. Included in their menagerie are a cute little pig named Hamilton, 50 chickens, Nigerian dwarf goats, sheep, ducks, miniature pigs, a pony and three dogs.
Some of the animals were purchased, some were adopted and others were brought to them. At some point, they hope to add a miniature donkey and a miniature cow or two.
Their petting zoo will reopen later this year and, weather permitting, be held on the first and third Sundays of the month.
Chuck Coburn says he is thrilled the shop is being used again and that the farm is full of animals. Not only does he enjoy helping care for all the critters, but he and little Alex also enjoy their special time of collecting eggs together every afternoon.
Lyle and Liam both agree that one of the best parts of owning this business is seeing families come together, enjoying a fresh pastry and playing with the animals.
“Seeing the kids’ reactions brings me joy and reminds me why we work so hard. It’s for the little moments like that,” Lyle said.
As for Liam, his favorite part is getting to spend time with their children at home and seeing the impact their products have on others.
Over the next couple of years, they plan to open up the farm to overnight guests.
“We want to create an immersive farm experience for families with different abilities and anyone else who would like to visit,” Liam said. “Our son, Connor, is wheelchair dependent so we want our farm to not only be ADA compliant, we want it to be ADA-friendly and accommodating.”
Asked if there were any plans to open other Crazy Quilt Farms around the county or beyond, they smiled and said, “you never know. There’s an ‘s’ at the end of farms for a reason.”
With its barn-red storefront, rainbow-colored patio tables, delicious food, assorted gift items and a multitude of endearing farm animals, Crazy Quilt Farms looks like it could have been plucked from the pages of a storybook. The shop is closed while the team helps and works at the Lake County Fair, but will reopen, Wednesday, Sept. 14.
Location: 1215 State Highway 20 in Upper Lake
Hours: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday to Saturday, closed Sunday to Tuesday
More information: 707-264-9651, crazyquiltfarm.com
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