Exploring Our Local Watershed: The Cache Creek Nature Preserve
A feature column from the Davis Enterprise (published October 8, 2024) by Yolo County Master Gardener Lorie Hammond, informed by a conversation with Jim Barrett, Board Chair of the Cache Creek Conservancy (CCC). The article provides an accessible introduction to Cache Creek’s watershed, history, and ecology — tracing the creek from Clear Lake through the […]
The Maples Farm Carbon Farm Plan
A publicly available Carbon Farm Plan (CFP) for The Maples Farm — the 30-acre headquarters of the Center for Land-Based Learning (CLBL) in Woodland, CA, developed in partnership with the Yolo Resource Conservation District and the Carbon Cycle Institute, completed June 2024. Described as an “aspirational, living document,” the plan evaluates all possible practices to […]
Gemperle Orchards: Sometimes Finding an IPM Balance Takes Time
A National Nut Grower magazine grower profile (May/June 2022 issue) documenting Christine and Erich Gemperle’s decade-long evolution toward integrated pest management (IPM) at their 135-acre almond operation in Ceres, CA. Details how an accidental observation of beneficial insects during cover crop mowing led Christine to forgo a routine preventative abamectin mite spray — resulting in […]
Meet the Farms: Gemperle Farms
An Almond Living Magazine feature article (published July 13, 2022) profiling Christine Gemperle and her inclusion in the BBC Earth documentary series “The Green Planet” (Episode 5: “Human Worlds,” aired August 2022). Describes how a BBC crew spent three weeks filming at Gemperle Orchards in 2020 during a spectacular bloom season, drawn by the visual […]
An Almond Farmer and Advocate: Christine Gemperle
A portrait interview from the From Farms to Incubators journalism project (written by Kristin Platts), featuring Christine Gemperle of Gemperle Orchards in Ceres and Gustine, CA. Covers Christine’s background — a Swiss immigrant father who brought almond farming to California, her biology and fisheries degrees from UC Santa Cruz and Utah State, and her return […]
Duvarita Vineyard – Kiss the Ground Farmer Feature
A Kiss the Ground farmer feature article (published May 27, 2022) profiling Brook Williams, owner of Duvarita Vineyard in Lompoc, CA. Covers Williams’ background as a 30-year winery professional who transitioned to vineyard ownership in 2012, his adoption of biodynamic practices beginning in 2014 (certified biodynamic 2017), and how his participation in Kiss the Ground’s […]
Scott Park Farming – UC ANR Solution Center for Nutrient Management Farmer Profile
A farmer profile from the UC ANR Solution Center for Nutrient Management detailing Scott Park’s organic nutrient management philosophy and practices at Park Farming Organics in Meridian, CA. Covers his 4-year ideal crop rotation (tomatoes → rice → beans → wheat), how cover crops between each cash crop cycle provide nutrients and organic matter, his […]
LandUse Learning Center Full Tour
Visit the LandUse Learning Center on a 25-minute tour of sustainable practices in three different land uses: native habitats, urban areas, and agriculture. Meet a variety of environmental professionals and learn to be a steward of natural resources for inland Southern California.
Visit the LandUse Learning Center
Video tour of the Landuse Learning Center
Training Future Farmers To Grow More Than Food
A KneeDeep Times feature article (published December 4, 2024) about Agroecology Commons Farm, a three-acre educational incubator farm in El Sobrante (Contra Costa County) run by co-founders Brooke Porter and Alexa Levy. Focuses on their Bay Area Farmer-to-Farmer Training Program (BAFFT), a nine-month program centering BIPOC, queer, and working-class beginning farmers in both technical agricultural […]