Healthy Soils Through Whole-Orchard Recycling
Profile of David Viguie (Viguie Farming) using a $38,378 CDFA Healthy Soils Program grant to remove a 28-year-old French prune orchard via whole-orchard recycling (chipping trees back into the soil) and replanting almonds under minimum tillage, cutting GHG emissions and boosting soil carbon.
Tight Times Drive Interest in Irrigation, Fertigation Efficiency
Recap of 50th Almond Conference sessions on irrigation efficiency (remote sensing, distribution-uniformity testing) and fertigation strategies to cut nutrient costs; includes commentary from Tommy Bottoms of Timothy and Viguie Farming/El Molino Farms.
On-Farm Benefits of Healthy Soils
Panel discussion from NCAT’s second Soil Innovations Conference (March 2022) on the practical, on-farm benefits of healthy-soil practices, featuring farmers Christopher Grotegut (Tierra de Esperanza) and Tommy Bottoms (Timothy and Viguie Farming/El Molino Farms), moderated with ATTRA specialist Justin Duncan.
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 […]
Ag Field Day in Richfield Focuses on Sustainable Farming
A local newspaper article from the Corning Observer / Appeal-Democrat (published September 2022) covering a Community Alliance with Family Farmers (CAFF)-sponsored agricultural field day held August 19, 2022 at Handy Farms in Richfield, Tehama County. More than 40 attendees — primarily family farm owners and employees of larger farming companies in the North State — […]
Center for Land-Based Learning: Deepening Ties Between Local Ag, Local Markets, and Local Need
A community journalism feature article from The Dirt (a free, independent publication covering Davis and Yolo County), published March 22, 2026, profiling CLBL’s Community Food Program and its role connecting local farms — including Riverfront Farm in West Sacramento — to food-insecure residents across Yolo County. Features quotes from Community Food Program Manager Christopher Wong […]
Scott Park: Can Organic No-Till Vegetables Be Grown at Scale? | Real Organic Podcast #122
A Real Organic Podcast web page (Episode #122) featuring an interview with Scott Park examining whether organic no-till vegetable production is achievable at commercial scale in California. Scott discusses his participation in the USDA NRCS CIG-funded research partnership with UC Extension, CSU Chico, and Fresno State; his on-farm no-till experiments including a costly 350-acre trial […]
Scott Park: Why Don’t More People Farm Organically? | Real Organic Podcast #080
A YouTube video of Real Organic Podcast Episode #080 (published September 6, 2022) featuring an extended interview with Scott Park of Park Farming Organics in Meridian, CA. Scott discusses why more California farmers haven’t transitioned to organic production, his own 35-year journey from conventional to organic and regenerative practices, the economic realities and financial hardships […]
Long-Term Soil Strategies Drive Many Environmental Benefits at Park Farming Organics
A CalCAN (California Climate & Agriculture Network) Farmer Climate Leader profile on Scott Park and Park Farming Organics, detailing how decades of cover cropping and composting have dramatically increased soil organic matter and carbon sequestration, improved water retention and drought resilience (cutting the number of irrigations needed), reduced synthetic fertilizer and pesticide dependency by 90%+, […]