How I Started Ranching, Ruthie King How did I get from point A, Los Angeles suburbs, to point B, rural California rangeland? How did I make the transition from studying architecture to studying manure? How many more points on my path will there be, what sort of angles and shapes am I drawing on my…
Advice for the Adaptive Farmer – Daniel Spiro The days are growing longer and we are in the midst of the awakening of spring life from winter hibernation. For the Adaptive Farmer this constitutes the season of greatest transition, which is to say, the time to spend the hours of light working, the time to…
Did you know that in 1864, the Coyote Valley flour mill processed a daily average of four tons of wheat? In 1880, Anderson Valley, a community of less than 1,000 people, raised 20,000 head of cattle and 75,000 head of sheep. By the late 19th century there were 28,000 apple trees, 2,000 acres of barley, 3,000 acres of oats, 375…
Coming at food through an education in art has allowed me to encounter food as an interplay of texture, color, and flavor outside of more traditional starting points like source and nutritional value or adherence to a specific cultural format. I have conceptually been able to play on ideas of the seasonal as emotional and…
Am I a good fit for the School of Adaptive Agriculture? We get this question a lot, especially now as we gear up for the Spring Term here at the school. If the following sounds intriguing then, yes – absolutely, we are the place for you to begin your exploration of sustainable farming and agriculture….
Summer term was winding down. With under a month to go, students were finding their stride, choosing their areas of focus, taking on responsibility at the farm, and reaching out to potential employers. The weekend was coming to an end, and students who had gone away for the weekend were filtering back in Sunday night,…
Daniel Spiro continues his interview series with recent graduates from the School of Adaptive Agriculture. Like a steady bass line, Kevin Edmonson walks the grounds of the SAA quietly taking care of the myriad tasks that he has taken on, from helping to muck the stall in the barn where the sheep sleep, to turning…
Scale up? Whoa Nellie! by Michael Foley (farmer, educator & founding member of the School of Adaptive Agriculture) For the last hundred years, farm advisers have been telling farmers they have to scale up. Many farmers agreed, thinking an increase in production would equal an increase in revenue and hence (!) profit. While American farms…
Daniel Spiro continues his interview series with recent graduates from the School of Adaptive Agriculture. High atop the list of reasons for going into this challenging and noble profession of food production is surely a love of good, healthy food. For Sarah Tobias, recent graduate of the SAA, it was this love that propelled her…
Daniel Spiro continues to interview students at the School of Adaptive Agriculture. Enjoy! For Eliot Hartley, 32, practicum program graduate and current Capstone student at the SAA, it was the opportunity to live in a diverse farming community that first compelled him to enroll in the school in the Spring of 2017. Eliot: “I met…
