Germination By Matt Gal I’m having trouble deciding if magic is the right word to describe my time spent at the Grange Farm School. It’s the only word I know that can accurately sum up the overwhelmingly beautiful, educational, and improbable experiences that I had there. I’ll start by freely admitting that I had no notion of…
Back on the farm beat while spring brings us sunshine and the urge of labor days in the field. With my soil test in hand and a workshop with restoration agriculture monolith Mark Shepard in mind, I’ve followed some clues in the soil (low calcium, the need for better water penetration and tilth) along with…
Last week 48 chicks were born in our living room! Our hatch rate is improving as we learn the nuances of our incubator.. up to 70% from 60% last year. They are such cute fuzzy little dinosaurs. Currently they are living behind our workshop in Ohio Brooder boxes. The Ohio Brooder was originally designed during WWII as…
The dark’d come, and the gang was away, so Daniel was on duty to put the sheep in the hay. He filled up the tin bucket with alfalfa pellet and shooked and shaked it like a vigorous zealot. The sheep raised their brows with looks of keen satisfaction and Daniel thought, “this is it! the…
On frequent mornings fair, whilst whistle the waking winged denizens of sun-ready oaks and peeping boppish bays, midst a modal mist whose soaking tones warrant no woe, there jets aloft a golden burst pure and untamed (nor yet famed), an amendment upon the rooster’s ancient decree of Day Come Once More which summons the Grange…
Star Thistle. It’s everywhere this year in the back pasture of the Grange Farm School. We curse it as it pierces our legs and remains unpalatable to livestock once it goes to flower. Even with a crew of 8 digging the plant out, we make slow progress against the vast brambles of thistle. But on…
Pictures and Captions by Sarah Brady : June 2015 Practicum Student Grazing Cattle: Cattle grazing in the field between our sleeping and studying quarters and the grange crop/grazing field. Annual grasses (now dry having set seed already) include wild out (Avena fatua), ripgut brome (Bromus diandrus), hedgehog dogtail grass (Cynosurus echinatus), and some soft chess/brome (Bromus hordeaceus)….
Creating Secure Land Tenure Agreements: Lease Clinic & Potluck DATE: July 14, 2015, TIME: 4:30-6:30 Workshop; 6:30 Potluck/Mixer LOCATION: Howard House, Ridgewood Ranch, 16200 N. Hwy 101, Willits, CA (map) Are you a farmer or rancher looking to lease land in the North Coast region? Are you already leasing but wish to learn more about…
We need you! Act now, sponsor a portion of our vegetable and fruit production to be donated to a local charity. Our goal is to support the next generation not only how to grow food, but how to be giving and supportive of our surrounding community! http://www.gofundme.com/sponsoraplot Website Facebook manager@grangefarmschool.org
Written by Rosie Gilchrist: June 2015 Practicum Student Mine is not a new story, not an uncommon story, not at all unique, yet despite this it seems necessary to tell it, to find space for my retelling. For it is a journey many are embarking on. Young, idealistic, enthusiastic, often theoretically educated, overwhelmed individuals are…
