Farm School 2024
May 27th to August 30th
The Program
The SAA 14-Week Farm School is a wide-ranging introduction to methods developed and adapted for ecologically informed production of vegetables, fruits and grains, herbs and livestock. The program immerses you in the everyday work and life of farms and farmers, through a work-learn program. Students receive a stipend for their work on the farms. Farm tours, focused on what makes small-scale farming productive and resilient, enlarge your experience of actual farming. Two days of coursework complements and fills out this experience with classes by local experts and discussion.
Whether you hope to homestead or farm for market some day, crave a rural lifestyle or look to urban farming, or just want to know more about how our food might be produced more sustainably, justly, and with reverence for the land, the 14-week Practicum Program has something to offer you. Our Practicum Program is dedicated to providing you with the tools you need, both intellectual and practical, to better respond to the economic, social and environmental future we are facing today.
We look at the big questions surrounding agriculture, our relationship to the land, and how we can build stronger communities. But the core of the program addresses practical questions about how to address the challenges of the 21st century on the land and in our local communities — how to build soil and conserve water, make way for wildlife and reap the benefits of ecological diversity, offer nutritious food to our communities while providing for ourselves as well — learning the arts and occasional science of small-scale production.
Key curriculum topics include
- soil ecology
- water conservation
- choosing crops and selecting seeds
- propagation, planting and transplanting
- animal husbandry and pasture management
- medicinal herbs production and preparation
- getting a living on the land
- and practical skills like carpentry, electrical work, and plumbing.
We also put special emphasis on creating a healthy work environment, building leadership, and practicing communications skills.
The educational focus is hands-on, with lab work, experimentation, fieldwork, and demonstrations to “show” rather than “tell.” There will be plenty of opportunity for reading and discussion about what you’re learning and the challenges we face as a society. And we will do all we can to provide resources for you to pursue your special interests, whether they be in biointensive gardening, the biodynamic approach, small-scale dairy, regenerative pasture and woodlands management, permaculture, or herbalism.
Our aim is to give you the fullest possible introduction to living on the land and in harmony with the land and provide you with the skills you need to realize your dreams.
Costs and financial aid
The Program costs us approximately $4,500 per student to run, including room and board. We want to guarantee entry to any qualified candidate and will work with you to meet expenses through solicitation of scholarships, a Go-Fund-Me campaign, work/trade, or other arrangements. Stipends earned on farms during the program will help with living expenses and could contribute to your tuition.
Dates to Remember
Session starts May 27th, runs to August 30th, 2024
Final application deadline is April 30th.
Admissions are rolling with enrollment limited. We are accepting applications now and will get back to prospective students quickly.
To Apply Now, scroll down. Or read on for more on the program.
The Term
The 14-Week Residential Practicum Program runs 5 days per week, for an average of 30-40 hours per week. The 2024 term begins May 27th and ends August 30th.
The farm school weekly schedule includes:
- work-learn days on participating host-farms,
- classes,
- field trips,
- discussions,
- communal meals,
- and chores.
Work-Learn
Each week students work alongside farmers, ranchers, and food producers for 2 work-learn days, gaining practical skills on topics from regenerative grazing to no-till vegetable production, from fruit production to post-harvest handling and processing, from natural building to stream bed restoration. Farmers pay wages or a stipend and are committed to devoting time to your learning needs. Reflection on these experiences is at the core of the program.
Classes
In addition each week includes 2 days of classes and group discussions. The main topics covered by classroom sessions are Crop Production, Livestock, the Real Economics of Farming, Industrial Arts, and Resilience, Community, and Conviviality. Day 2 introduces more specialized topics, and students may also pursue independent study with a mentor on such topics as no-till vegetable production, regenerative farming, biointensive gardening, the biodynamic method, orchard management, small-scale dairy, livestock production, wool and fiber arts, or permaculture.
Field Trips
Finally, one day each week is dedicated to field trips and tours to a wide variety of farms and food operations, providing a direct example of how real farmers, ranchers and food workers meet the challenges of our time.
Our field trips can take you as far afield as Singing Frogs Farm in Sonoma County, noted for owners Paul and Elizabeth Kaiser’s development of intensive no-till production. Or the O’Neil family’s Happy Day Farm in northern Mendocino County, where farmer Casey O’Neil has devoted years to perfecting the integration of cannabis and vegetable production, using traditional organic methods of soil management and water conservation. And the Mendocino Grain Project grows heirloom grains, threshing and cleaning their own grain and that of local producers at its Ukiah warehouse, and producing flour and food staple for local markets.
Meals and Housing
5 days a week students cook meals together in an outdoor kitchen stocked with staples and farm fresh produce, meat and eggs from local sources, including the School’s lead farm, Black Dog Farm, and the Mendocino Grain Project. Students who live elsewhere in the area are encouraged to participate in common meals and the discussions that go with them. Our Student Life Coordinator will get you started on using the kitchen, sharing roles, and setting up a schedule for preparing meals and chores. Special requests will be honored (within reason), and the kitchen routine can be adjusted to meet special dietary needs. Students will pack lunches for their days off-site at work-learn farms and the farm tours.
Each student will live in one of our simple cabins, furnished with bed, dresser and desk. There is electricity to the cabins, and they are in reach of the wi-fi on campus. Two showers are attached to the student kitchen at the top of the knoll. One cabin has been set aside a combination office and quiet reading room for student use. There you’ll find our small library.
Recreational Opportunities
There is plenty of hiking on Ridgewood Ranch and picnicking at the Redwood Grove. You can go for a swim in the pond above the Ranch. The town of Willits nearby features a lively arts, theater and music scene, and there are movie theaters in both Willits and Ukiah. The coast is a good hour’s drive away, but it is spectacular and well worth the drive, with lots to explore and lots of good food, much of it sourced locally.