“My vision is a green postage stamp all year long, without irrigation,” Amy Lofting says. She is standing on Petaluma’s dry, golden hills beside Highway 101, the sun not yet penetrating chilly morning fog. “The goal is green, by keeping water on the property. It’s not only how much water you get, but how much you keep.”
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First-Generation Agrarians Living the Not-So-Simple Life at Outlaw Valley Ranch
Alex and Kelsey Karol are the first-generation agrarians of Outlaw Valley Ranch, a business that has hit its stride even as it restarts from scratch in a new locale. As of last year, Outlaw Valley Ranch occupies 345 hilly acres in Santa Maria, California, between San Luis Obispo and Santa Barbara.
Read MoreA Life Filled with Meaning at Green Goose Farm
“Grass is my crop,” Roy Smith says, smiling. “Grass is California’s one ‘default crop’: it grows without intervention and feeds all life forms. We need ways to convert that default crop into a feed source for everyone else.”
Read MoreAlley Cropping in the Liminal Zone: Growing Resilience in the San Joaquin Valley
What will the San Joaquin Valley–home to one quarter of the nation’s food production–look like fifty years from now? Fifth-generation farmer Nathanael Gonzales-Siemens and a team of farming and fiber systems advocates are undertaking an experiment in Buttonwillow, CA that may determine part of the answer.
Read MoreFibershed 2021 Symposium: Water Systems Panel with Andrew Fisher, Regina Hirsch, Dennis Hutson, Brad Lancaster
Watch a recording of the Water Systems Panel with Andrew Fisher, Regina Hirsch, Dennis Hutson, Brad Lancaster at the Fibershed 2021 Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium.
Read MoreFibershed 2021 Symposium: Agroforestry Panel – Sonja Brodt, Liz Carlisle, Guido Frosini, Jesse Smith
Watch a recording of the Agroforestry Panel at the Fibershed 2021 Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium.
Read MoreFibershed 2021 Symposium: Opening Remarks by Rebecca Burgess
Watch a recording of Fibershed Executive Director Rebecca Burgess’ opening remarks at the Fibershed 2021 Wool & Fine Fiber Symposium.
Read MoreTakeaways From the 2021 Carbon Farm Fund Report
Bringing producers, artisans, and policy together has the potential to increase fair payments to farmers to support more ecologically sound farming practices while providing a premium product to regional artisans and creators. Read our takeaways from the 2021 Carbon Farm Fund Report to understand the variety of ways we support on-the-ground climate beneficial land-management practices for more resilient fiber systems.
Read MoreBread and Sweaters: How Grain and Grazing Benefits Food and Fiber Systems
Written by Marie Hoff Paige Green Photography Grazing and grain are ancient, connected in a relationship of survival that, through their mutual adaptation, support the varied and complex world that […]
Read MoreRegional Fibershed Communities Adapt to Global Climate Change
What rapidly changing weather conditions mean for our regional fibersheds and how innovative farmers and ranchers are stepping up to the challenges. The largest scientific expedition in Arctic history took […]
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