Welcoming in 2023

With 2022 in the rear view and the rains that have arrived, we wanted to start the year off with gratitude for the folks and organizations who make up part of our resilience as a rural land-based project. They include:

Bramble Tail Homestead, Bridget & Josho Somine, Castelli Vineyards, the Climate Farm School, Cotton Flower, Dashboard Earth, Forestree Collective, Kelsi Anderson, Land & Local, LifeWays, the Mendelsohn Family, Nancy Schaub, Rich Robinson, Russell Wood Cabinetry, Shao Shan Farm, Sherwood, The Temple of the Vine & the Bee, Terra.do, Three Branches, Weaving Earth, West County Partner Dance, Wilderness Torah, Yama Craft, and our wonderful landmates, neighbors and extended community.

Thank you to all of these people and organizations and the land that we have the honor to steward. It’s going to be a good year! Keep reading below for updates from various projects and upcoming events.

LAND UPDATES

BRAMBLE TAIL HOMESTEAD

Bramble Tail has been busy this year expanding our program offerings! 

Our long standing Herdshare Program has been maintaining a steady fullness throughout the year to a local membership group of 140 families., email us to sign up! 

And, our u-pick membership based Apothecary Garden has been a new project this year, and has proven to be a deeply satisfying relational farming experience. Members join for the calendar year, and have open access to come harvest plants as they are ready throughout the year.  We also offered various tending days, and hosted several workshops. We just completed our winter root dig!  Email to sign up for 2023 membership or inquire about our apprenticeship opportunity.

THE COMMUNITY GARDEN

At the start of 2022, landmates broke ground on a previously fallow hillside, forming permanent no-till beds on contour, to grow food for and by the residents here. For 2023, we are exploring opening up membership to the community garden to folks in our extended community! There will be a nominal annual fee to formalize your participation, regular monthly work days to tend to the beds, and open harvesting year round. Fill out this form if you're interesting in applying!

FORESTREE COLLECTIVE + REGENERATIVE FOREST SOLUTIONS

Forestree Collective is winding up as their new small diameter timber mill arrived at the West Mill here at Green Valley. The Woodlandia 200xp creates multiple boards from small diameter logs (6" - 12" DBH) in a single pass. Once installed, the mill enables Forestree to cost effectively utilize wood from fuel load reduction and forest restoration projects. Using this type of wood is generally speaking good for the climate and local economy as this material is often chipped or burned. Both of these standard practices release carbon into the atmosphere and/or add to surface fuel loads. 

Forestree Collective is the only small diameter value add product business in the state and is answering the call for win/win climate solutions. Traditionally viewed as “non-merchantable” wood by the lumber industry, our goal is to also ensure that wood that needs to stay onsite can do so for onsite restoration. Wood that is destined for a chipper will instead be transported to our mill and woodshop at Green Valley to help create more carbon stable home goods. We're aiming to grow into mass timber over the next two years with ample feedstock supply in Sonoma County to fuel our work for many decades.

Beyond wood utilization, there is much more that is needed to close the carbon economy on regenerative forest and land stewardship. To this end, a few members of Forestree have formed a nonprofit Regenerative Forest Solutions as a fiscally sponsored project of Inquiring Systems Inc. to fill in these gaps. With a niche on wood utilization research and education, our efforts will well-compliment the robust ecosystem of organizations, many of whom have been working for over a decade, to address forest stewardship and community resilience goals in Sonoma County. These include: the Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group, Sonoma Ecology Center, Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, Fire Forward, UC Cooperative Extension, Sonoma County Ag + Open Space District, Fire Safe Sonoma, Safer West County, and Shone Farm to name a few!

CLIMATE FARM SCHOOL 2023

The Climate Farm School program will be offering its 4-week course, including 1 week on the farm at Green Valley Farm + Mill several times in the upcoming year. This course is perfect for anyone looking to take a deeper dive into climate solutions within farming and food systems, especially if you are looking to transition careers in this direction. On-farm weeks will be: April 10-16, June 10-17, July 29-August 5, and September 16-23. Head to the course website for more information and to send in your application for one of those courses. Scholarships are available.

During previous courses here on the land, participants have harvested from the community garden, toured local farms including Shao Shan Farm here onsite, attended a no-till vegetable farming workshop at Singing Frogs Farm, learned the ins and outs of soil health, explored regenerative grazing management and small scale dairy operations with Brambletail Homestead, and cooked delicious meals together led by a fabulous cast of rotating Bay Area chefs. Climate Farm School is also open to designing custom short courses for mission-aligned companies and teams within organizations. For more information about the courses and custom offerings, send an email to Course Director and Green Valley landmate Laney Siegner at laney@terra.do. 

JOIN OUR GROWING COMMUNITY OF BUILDERS, MAKERS, FARMERS AND LAND TENDERS

ONE ACRE OPEN FARM LEASE

Join our growing collective of agricultural ventures here on the land! We have 1 acre available in the heart of our shared cropland. Complete with shared barn and greenhouse. We are looking for a small CSA, practicing low to no till, who wants to fit into this mosiac of farmers within our 10-acres of deer-fenced cropland: a medicinal herb farm, vineyard, community garden, veg farm specializing in storage crops and seed saving. A diversified CSA would round us out! Email if you're interested!

Report Back: Prescribed Burn with Fire Forward + Resources

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Many thanks to all the volunteers that contributed their time for prep work, during the burn and after, to our neighbors, and to the multitude of organizations that contributed their time and expertise such as CalFire, Good Fire Alliance and Tribal EcoRestoration Alliance. Our partnership with Fire Forward and their leadership and planning made the prescribed burn possible and we’re excited to have begun our collaboration. Read on below for a recap of the burn’s outcomes, how to engage with Fire Forward on your land, and a resource list for land managers and owners compile by Sonoma Ecology Center. (Pictures above by Sashwa Burrous)

Recent national media coverage of the burn featured Green Valley co-owners Jeremy Fisher and Temra Costa (pictured on right) along with Fire Forward Burn Boss and Fire Ecologist Sasha Berleman, is bringing new light to the benefits of bringing good fire back to the land. Click on the picture to the right or HERE to watch the 2 minute segment.

BURN SUCCESS: Fire resiliency for the next 15 years

• 80% reduction in fuels was achieved for 14-acres of high risk forest where accidental ignitions are common along the road and vegetation was previously hazardously dense.

• With the removal of ground vegetation and surface fuels in the 14-acre block, Sasha estimates that the forest will be resistant to fire for 15 - 20 years. Fire moves through a forest largely with the aid of surface fuels and the substantial reduction from the burn means that any fire that comes through the forest will stop and die down at the prescribed burn unit. 

• Along with greater fire resilience, ecological restoration of the forest is our long term goal with this work. We drastically reduced the douglas firs in the burn unit, especially the young ones, which will result in increased biodiversity. 

• A dozen or more firs on the ridge have died from the burn due to girdling from the heat. These trees have self-selected as not fire resilient and this is a good thing. They do not present a significant fire threat due to the aforementioned reduction of surface fuels. If a fire did come through, there would not be enough heat to burn the canopy, even with the handful of standing dead trees. It is our plan to continue mechanical thinning work to remove small diameter, dead and dying trees from this unit now that it is more accessible. We will also harvest some of these firs to be used for timber before bark beetles move in and make the wood unusable as a building material.

• The prescribed burn provided us with an invaluable learning opportunity to help prepare ourselves and this community to have a much greater understanding of fire on the ground. Fire Forward helped with the planning and implementation for over a year, ultimately bringing together 40 local volunteers for the actual burn day (not including the one attempted in January) that included fire ecologists, fire fighters, fire forward fellows, CalFire, Graton Fire and neighbors who all gained experience. 

• The ferns are already growing back and the understory will be greener than ever with herbaceous plants after this winter

FIRE FORWARD supports a myriad of land owners in prescribed burns and can assess if a prescribed burn is right for your property. If you’re interested in this work, please start by completing this online survey and someone will reach out to you. 

You might also consider joining the Good Fire Alliance for information resources and networking. Their website can be found here. 

Sonoma Ecology Center published a list of resources on prescribed burns for landowners and managers that is full of useful information and can be found here.

Happy Summer: Fire Ecology | Climate Farm School + More

Greetings Community,

We hope that your summer is finding you all well and nourished in these times. Some updates from Green Valley are below such as upcoming events like Climate Farm School, our work to bring good fire back to the land in partnership with Fire Forward, and info about what’s happening with onsite farms Bramble Tail Homestead and Shao Shan Farm.

Happy summer and may your corn be knee high by the 4th of July!

Green Valley Farm + Mill

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SHAO SHAN FARM

A collaborator with Second Generation Seeds, a Kitchen Table Advisors client farmer, and a part-time employee of Berkeley Food Institute, the hats that Scott Chang-Fleeman wears on-farm and off-farm are equally inspiring. Since he started farming in his twenties after completing the U.C. Santa Cruz Farm and Garden program, he's been focused on crops that nourish the Asian American diaspora of the Bay Area while cultivating biodiversity and increasing soil health.

It was right around his first day getting set up at Green Valley when we happened to be hosting CAFF's Small Farm Conference regional workshop and mixer when two tours of 50 or more attendees started passing through his field (photo above of that day). Scott comfortably stepped out from behind the tractor, knew several people in the audience, and shared a a few stories about what he's up to with his crops and plans here at Green Valley. A wonderful fit, we're so happy he's landed here!

More to come soon. For now, we encourage you to follow along on Scott's farming journey on Instagram @shaoshanfarm or at his website here.

Slated for last fall and but delayed several times due to weather conditions, the 14-acre burn happened on May 21, just over one year in the making.

Jeremy Fisher, co-founder at Green Valley and Forestree Collective, started working with Sasha Berleman of Fire Forward in January of 2021 to discuss the possibility of bringing "good fire" back to the land here.

In 2021 alone there were five small fires within a ten mile radius of Green Valley, including one 2-acre wildfire in a steep section of the 85-acres mixed evergreen forest. "It could have been catastrophic had the winds been blowing," said Fisher. "That fire, in particular, put the pressure on to get started on forest health and fuel load reduction and collaboration with Fire Forward made that possible for us."

We're working on a write up of the process and our experience and will be sharing more here soon.

The grasslands have been quickly turning golden over the past month, with these heat wave temperature swings, but the bit of rain and mist has gotten some new grass sprouts greening up the lowlands. We continue to move our cows around the land here and on neighboring pastures, keeping down fuel load for the upcoming fire season, incorporating manure for soil health, and doing our best to manage for biodiversity.

Up in the terraced herb garden, we've been busy planting out rows and rows of perennial medicinal plants, weeding the weeds that inevitably want to grow, and installing a fancy irrigation system to keep low amounts of water directed right at the roots of intended plants, moisture kept in the soil under a heavy mulch layer. Our herb CSA members are oriented to garden, in order to come harvest, tend, and deepen relationship with the plants throughout the growing season as they like. We've had some sweet tending parties, discussing our various experiences and knowledge with the plants as we tend. Over 100 varieties of medicinal plants are now in the ground, only to establish themselves more fully over the coming years.

Follow us on instagram @brambletail, or email Aubrie at BrambleTailHomestead@gmail.com if you're interested in being a part of the Herdshare, Beef Share, or Herb Share!

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UPCOMING EVENTS

CLIMATE FARM SCHOOL | Join Green Valley and Terra.do this July

The last session of Climate Farm School was fantastic and there are a few more spots available in July!

Climate Farm School is a hybrid on-farm and online learning experience meant to bring farmers and non-farmers together for a deep dive into climate change intersections with food and farming systems. Green Valley has partnered with Terra.do since 2021 and this year several additional sessions have been added.

If you've always wanted to live and work on an innovative regenerative farm while learning about climate change, this is your chance. Sign-ups are open for the July course and people can go to the course homepage to apply or reach out to course director Ryan Peterson here for more information. We hope that you'll join us and Terra.do!

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FARM CYCLE | June 26

Bring your bike and join us for some of the best road riding West County has to offer. Due to the climbing involved in these parts, rides are recommended for more experienced riders.

Send us a note to get on the Farm Cycle list for updates and ride events at hello@gvfam.com.

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LOCAL AUTHOR EVENT AT LAGUNA FOUNDATION | August 2

An Evening with Greg Sarris: Memoir on Homeland and Belonging

Modified from the website description: Please join The Laguna Foundation, Graton Rancheria and Heyday Books for an intimate evening of reading and conversation with award-winning author and tribal leader Greg Sarris for his new memoir, Becoming Story: A Journey among Seasons, Places, Trees, and Ancestors. In this powerful new work, Sarris offers a searching portrait of his own life, from his upbringing in Santa Rosa’s Indian Country to the discovery of his own Indigenous ancestry to his work as an elected leader of the Coast Miwok and Southern Pomo tribes. Tickets are sliding scale, $10 - $25, and are available here.

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THE MARKETPLACE | Local Food + Artisans

If you haven't made it to The Marketplace located over in the East Mill, it's a great stop to grab items when on your way from here to there! We're right in the middle of Guerneville, Forestville and Sebastopol, so whether you're heading to the river or the ocean, we've got some goodies for you.

Books, beverages, herbal skin care products, ceramics, pantry items, ferments and more await!

Located at 13024 E Green Valley Road, pass by the main entrance and keep going down to driveway "E". Park and walk in towards the industrial buildings, and look for a sign that says "The Marketplace."

Fire & Forest Ecology at Green Valley: Sept. 25, Oct. 2, Oct. 23. Nov. 6

Please join us for our four-part series by registering here.

Sonoma County is alive with fire ecology and forest tending activities — and this is a beautiful thing! We invite you to immerse yourself in the ecology and understory of the 85-acres of mixed evergreen forest at Green Valley Farm + Mill in an offering of connecting, learning and working with the land.

As we tenderly step into our relationship with this place, we acknowledge the role and practices of the Southern Pomo, Coast Miwok and Kashaya Pomo tribes in caring for this land for thousands of years before us, and are here listening with deep respect for their approach to reciprocal relationship to the ecology of this place. As the practice of using prescribed fire is now coming back to the landscape from a growing number of non-native folks like us, we acknowledge that the cultural use of fire has been an integral way of life for thousands of years, and encourage you too to seek out, support, learn and listen from tribal members of their history and deep relationship to this practice. We encourage you to read this article, check out the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, Tribal Eco Restoration Alliance, and Cultural Fire Management Council.

As for our series, we will start each day with gratitude for the original stewards of this place and an overview of our approach and plan for incorporating fire to increase the health of the forest and fire resiliency of our community. Co-led by Jeremy Fisher and Josiah Cain, they will discuss the history of this forest that we are aware of, and the importance of a healthy forest that incorporates fire. After this introduction, we will make our way to the forest for hands-on work creating a shaded fuel break in preparation for a prescribed burn this fall in collaboration with Fire Forward, after the first rains returns to the land.

The walk to the “ridge” is steep and can be on foot or participants can catch a lift via a truck that will be heading up with supplies. All abilities are encouraged to join us and we can find opportunities to engage for all. Again, please register by clicking on the registration link above and let us know in the form if we can support you in any way.

Lastly, we are not alone in our pursuits and encourage you to learn what you can from native practitioners and also encourage you to visit and connect with other local community-based land projects that are on a similar path - Monan’s Rill and Occidental Arts & Ecology Center to name a few. They are offering similar hands-on learning opportunities this fall and we look forward to learning from and with them as we step more deeply into stewardship and being in relationship with this land.

Soil Health Gets a Boost at Green Valley

Climate intensified fires, drought, and flooding continue to challenge farmers and residents alike in Sonoma County and beyond. However, there is growing evidence that increasing soil health and climate change mitigation go hand-in-hand. 

What’s beneath our feet matters. In 2019, Green Valley got a lift to deepen our journey to increase the land’s soil fertility via a Healthy Soils Program grant through the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). This confirmation letter came on the heels of significant scientific research about the potential of soils to mitigate the impacts of climate chaos in addition to the role that agriculture is playing in global climate change such as the IPCC’s report on agriculture and climate change. Unfortunately, soil health building practices such as compost application, rotational grazing and plant diversification take time and resources to implement and demonstrate two of the biggest challenges farms face with implementation. Enter the Healthy Soils Program. This important funding opportunity provides incentives for climate beneficial agricultural practices by paying stewards for their time and materials. 

Realized at Green Valley Farm + Mill through the support of ecologist Lindsay Dailey of Oak Granary, our project received a grant of nearly $50,000 for the implementation of soil and biodiversity building practices that are doing more than just sequestering carbon. Managed by Green Valley co-founder and community herbalist, Aubrie Maze, the project is well underway with many deliverables already met. Aubrie has her eye on a walk-able, harvest-able, and well-tended wildscape, abundant with food and medicine (e.g. elderberries) in addition to increasing pasture health and the cascade of benefits that come from integrating soil health at a landscape scale.

To date we have applied a portion of our grant funding for the installation of hedgerows - long, wide rows of native grasses, forbs, shrubs and trees - whose purpose is to increase plant diversity and provide habitat for local wildlife. These have been planted along riparian tributaries to encourage healthier waterways and provide the plants with easy access to water during drier times of the year. As researchers have known for years, the application of a thin layer of compost on the surface of soil can greatly increase the soil’s water holding capacity and reduce evaporation. To this end, we are pleased to utilize a portion of the funding in support of compost application on our pasture and olive orchard over multiple years as well so that water stays in the ground and slowly feeds to Green Valley Creek during the height of dry times.

The Healthy Soils Program doesn’t stop there, it also funds demonstration projects. While Green Valley did not apply for this type of funding, moving compost and completing plantings is a perfect engagement opportunity to get people connected with the soil. In early 2020 we hosted a team of NRDC staffers from around the country who assisted with this work and learned about the benefits of the program for a project such as ours.

NRDC Staff from the San Francisco, New York, Washington D.C. and Bozeman offices at Green Valley Farm + Mill with co-owners Temra Costa and Aubrie Maze

As the climate crisis continues to intensify, we are committed to engaging with solutions that can scale regenerative land-based solutions to climate change including carbon sequestration, biodiversity enhancement, fuel load reduction of our forest, and water retention bolstering practices for greater resilience on the human and non-human scale. For this we’re grateful that funding existed to get us on our way and hope that this will continue to be available for others. 

If you’re interested in staying in the loop about climate smart farming policy programs such as the Healthy Soils Program, we recommend following CalCAN for statewide program and policy updates and/or signing up for our quarterly newsletter.

What is Green Valley Farm + Mill?

Green Valley Farm + Mill is a collective that is working to push the edges of land ownership and stewardship models. This place is located on Southern Pomo and Coast Miwok territory and is home to 15 adults, 2 kids, many cows, three dogs, two cats, numerous birds, coyote, steelhead and other flora and fauna; various buildings and infrastructure host several organizations from a variety of educational disciplines and designs; and, the land is actively managed by three farms that are growing food for our Bay Area community while tending the land through diversified production practices.

As we enter our fourth year, we're continuing the work of evolving our model and to hone our storytelling so that we can better achieve our mission of reconnecting people with land.

With over 400 million acres changing hands in the U.S. over the next twenty years, we need Green Valleys everywhere, not more consolidated, industrial-scale food production. Here's a shortlist of other land-based, agricultural projects that you might want to check out. These farms are places that are feeding their local community and have governance structures that are informing our new model:
- Soul Fire Farm
- Molino Creek Farming Collective
- Full Belly Farm
- Live Power Community Farm
- Pie Ranch

Stay with us on our journey by following us socially here and here.