08/29/2026
Amazing!
Warning: Hawk-led Farm Tour.
Once a month it's good to get a hawk-eye view of the farm. It allows us know if everything is getting water evenly, if there are any soil fertility issues that a hawk would notice, and helps us plan where things will grow in the future.
We now have three field blocks named after famous farmers open now. From left to right is Carver (George Washington Carver), Carson (Rachel Carson), and Coleman (Eliot Coleman). Coleman just got planted with Sonora Wheat for the bread project. The rest needs more tarp, till, and terminate to get rid of some stubborn Bermuda grass, but should be ready for spring planting. Carver has tomatoes, peppers, corn, kohlrabi, radishes, cucumbers, and two freshly planted beds of carrots. Carson has toms, cucumbers, peppers, corn, carrots, beets, and that trellis thing in the middle has seven varieties of melons growing over it. In about one-two weeks when they ripen, a stroll under the melons will be treat for senses, particularly the nose.
Over in the far left, shaped like an eye is the native plant garden featuring plants from the Owens Valley. Further left still is Indigenous Agriculture Demonstration Garden highlighting crops like Taboose, cotton, 3 kinds of corn, wild tomatoes, beans, squash, gourds, and amaranth grain. And of course fruit trees and grapes ringing the whole enterprise, and the composting operation on the far left.
Inside the hoop house you get a feint glimpse of tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, turnips, chard, all cooled by our new fans and misting system. In this challenging growing environments of extremes in temps, a hoop makes a big difference.
But most important thing is found in the low right corner by the backstop. That's the most precious thing we're growing. That's CJ and a first grade class learning how plants grow. By the time this cohort gets to 5th grade they will have eaten hundreds of pounds of fresh food, tried new flavors, grown their own food, learned how Culture connects to Agri (land) and be well-versed in how food systems work, all while enabling them to make better decisions about the one thing we all do three times a day. (To name a few.)
