Written by Stephany Wilkes. Photography by Paige Green.
Bodega Pastures is a 1,000-acre ranch located in “West County” Sonoma, a historic community on traditional Coast Miwok (Me-Wuk) territory. The ranch is home to a sheep flock, guardian donkeys, wildlife, and a few generations of residents, some of whom were born and raised at Bodega Pastures and are now bringing fresh life, talents, perspectives, and skills to the community.
When I ask early Fibershed members and longtime stewards Hazel Flett and Nastasha Mcguirk what has changed in the past few years, their answers are wide ranging. “Lots of young people,” Hazel says, sitting in the shade of a tree and knitting away on yarn grown by Bodega Pastures sheep. “We now have 40 acres composted and a Carbon Farm Plan, thanks to grant money from a variety of sources, like the Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (RCD).”
“It is multigenerational,” Nastasha adds. “There are many children, who are now young adults and grew up in the community, and are old enough to really help, as well as young people who have come into the community and helped. Lately they are milling fallen timber to repair the barn, mostly Doug Fir that blew down and is straight and easy to mill. They’re using a movable Lucas mill, and we have giant trunks stacked and ready.”
The people and landscapes of Bodega Pastures are doing what they can, together, to be as resilient as possible during dramatic climate swings between drought and atmospheric rivers of rain, but recent winter storms blew the barn roof off, crushed a goat shelter, and felled several dozen trees.
“The storm hit right in the middle of the property,” Nastasha says. “Usually the wind blows it to one side or the other, and this time it hit right in the middle, gusts of 80 miles per hour.”
“The rain feels less predictable,” Hazel adds. “In some ways it feels more like the rain we had in the 1980s. We are saving up for a barn roof. It’s easy to get grants for compost and hard for barn repair.”
Despite these challenges, Hazel remains hopeful. “I am hopeful about so many young people helping, with the sheep, going to the farmer’s market, with all aspects. We have so many, varied skill sets contributing to our community sheep, from electrical to ecological, social, mechanics, and straight-up grunt work, and it’s all needed!”
Even as heavy rains fall, the Bodega Pastures community plans for and works to mitigate wildfire risk with fuels reduction and forest management. The property has a firebreak section, “but we do have forest encroaching on grassland,” Hazel says. Coastal prairie and grasslands are highly endangered ecosystems in California. “We have a forest management Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) grant from the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), to help us with doing huge fuels reduction and thinning. The forest thinning is also helpful with predator control: the sheep are more willing to graze in these areas because they can see if it is safe. We’ve had a lot of predation on the ridge in the summer, lots of losses and lion impact.”
Bodega Pastures has also added new processes and tools to their fuels reduction work, including mastication, in which a masticator machine crushes and chops fuels; chainsaw; and brush piling is done by hand. And of course, the sheep and goats help keep the brush back.”
The Bodega Pastures sheep rotationally graze both pasture and coastal rangeland, moving regularly. Their grazing feed is supplemented with hay grown on the ridges and bottom fields of the ranch.
A team of seventeen people helps manage the Bodega Pastures flock, with practices other flocks and ranches can benefit from. “We have 17 sheep people and strive for continuity of record keeping,” Hazel explains. “We have monthly sheep meetings, consistently, and could do with fortnightly. We have lovely people, a lovely potluck, an agenda and minutes, and of course a sheep group text, so there’s always communication happening.” The sheep group discusses grazing plans, rams and breeding, and lambing; coordinates big work days of shearing and tagging; and covers the ongoing concerns of maintaining sheep health, whether a particular sheep looks wormy or might need minerals, and more.
In addition, “We are still scattering compost,” Hazel says. “We’ve found our hay yields and water holding improve significantly after one application. Thanks to Fibershed, we’ve added a hedgerow of native plants and silvopasture, white oaks on the permanent sheep field to provide sheep shade and acorns, which are a good food source for sheep. White oaks are supposed to be more resilient to sudden oak death. We hope to create a seed bank.”
The definition of community is broader than Bodega Pastures itself, which creates relationships of mutual benefit and production with local, ethical partners that provide meat and wool products of integrity. Bodega Pastures works with Mendocino Wool & Fiber and Valley Oak Wool Mill to create yarn, some of which is available in stunning colors thanks to mushrooms and lichen dyes. Sheepskins are processed through Matt Richards Traditional Tanning in Ashland, Oregon, and True Grass Farms is a USDA processing partner.
Bodega Pastures has wool batting, pillows, comforters, organic cotton t-shirts, and whole lambs available, and has items available on BodegaPastures.com, at the Artisan’s Co-op in Bodega, and the West Marin Woolshed in Point Reyes Station. They participate in the following local farmers markets:
Sebastopol: Sundays / 10 am – 1:30 pm / All Year
Occidental: Fridays / 4 pm – Dusk / May – October
Bodega Bay: Sundays / 10 am – 2 pm / May – October