California Healthy Soils Incentives Program 2017

CDFA appropriated $7.5 million in FY 2016-17 to develop and administer a new incentive and demonstration program on the CA Healthy Soils Initiative from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. The objective of this new Healthy Soils Program is to build soil carbon and reduce agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.  Public and stakeholder input for the development of program framework will take place through public meetings of the Environmental Farming Act — Science Advisory Panel.

The most recent meeting of the Environmental Farming Act Science Advisory Panel took place on May 18th, 2017 in Sacramento, CA.

Information on the Healthy Soils Program presented previously to the Science Panel is available here:

 

Tentative Timeline for the 2016-2017 Healthy Soils Incentives Program

  • Public/stakeholder meetings and program development (including GHG Quantification Methodology) - November 2016 – May 2017
  • Request for Grant Applications released for public comments and public comment period - July 2017
  • Draft Request for Grant Applications released - July 2017
  • Grant Application Workshops - July – August 2017
  • Applications/Grant Proposals due - August 2017
  • Proposal evaluation periods - August – October 2017
  • Grant awardees announced - October 2017
  • Project implementation begins - November 2017

*Subject to change

For more information go to this website: https://www.cdfa.ca.gov/oefi/healthysoils/

Judith Redmond, Full Belly Farm, is on the science advisory panel for the environmental farming act.

 

Employment Wanted

Seeking Opportunity to assist in production of medicants, remedies, botanicals or high quality facial and body products.

Focus:

  • To expand and deepen what I have garnered about beauty and Nature into new experiences, discoveries and skills
  • To enrich my understanding of therapeutic principles
  • To grow my potential and abilities in restorative and therapeutic arts
  • To develop with others mutual trust, clarity and honesty in communication and a shared recognition of our true humanity
  • To optimize the life supporting influence of rhythm and continuity


Outlook and Experience:

Life comes from Life.There is a reciprocal and rejuvenating connection bonding human nature to gaian nurture. Ultimately and practically this dynamic romance is what sustains us, allowing us to grow and thrive. Her well being is our well being and we can trust Gaia-Sophia to teach us what we need to know. I am the proprietor of Terra Flora, a garden design-build landscape firm in Santa Fe, NM. Whatever the style in romancing the regional, our essential aim is creating a visual cohesiveness – a setting at ease with its surroundings. By thoughtful design, thorough cultivation and a beautiful and resilient plant palette, we marry inspiration with sustainability. I have distributed locally produced Biodynamic compost for 18 years for use in our landscapes and for the community. Please visit the writings page of gardengaia.com for articles and reviews. As part of the greater community of Biodynamic practitioners, my aim is to strengthen and support balanced life force in the soil. To provide the ground work in building a soil-plant partnership, we bring our attention to improving the receptive capacities of the soil - its vitality, mobility and resilience, its inner structure. This process is enhanced by the quality of balanced life forces found in Biodynamic compost. As Dr. Steiner indicated, the BD preparations "organize the compost." Their properties lead the aerobic fermentation in an optimizing direction, while regulating moisture and temperature. The organic matter is more thoroughly digested, influencing formation of stabilized humus; a nutrient and microbial rich, moisture retaining, deep fertility soil component. After all humus is a state of matter. In my romancing and worship of beauty, I marvel at the power gained in doing just that !

Please refer to my website  www.gardengaia.com for experience with garden design

Education:                        

  • Beverly Hills High School  (mid 60s)
  • Santa Monica Community College   (late 60's)
  • Exotica Seed and Nursery-intro to Biodynamics (1976-78)
  • Emerson College, Forest Row, England  (1997 & early 2000)


Travel:      Coastal California, Hawaii,  Oregon, Washington and British Columbia
                  Western Europe, Bali and some of Australia

Contact info: Maggie Lee, oceansmaggie@gmail.com

 

Looking for FARM LAND to Rent or Lease with Small Home

Growing healthful food, We are looking for new home and land to grow food


Hello,
My family and I are looking for a new place to farm and live (Late March/Early April). We would like to find a land rental or lease with a small home. We are planning on starting a family homestead and a small scale farm. Our focuses include permaculture, continuing our studies in Sustainability, Gardening Education, Biodynamics, Natural living and Yoga. Our skills include: Planting, harvesting, orchard care, farmers market experience, farm to table cuisine, small scale gardening and farming, animal husbandry, bees wax candle making, ceramics, fiber and land crafts. We have current references and photos of our past gardens. We will also consider a cabin, yurt or other simple efficient home space rental with room for a garden. We will consider partial trade, care taking, rent and crop share as possibilities. 

Region: Mendocino Coast and Anderson Valley

When: Early April

 

With Gratitude,

Farming Family

Contact Info: Lebeba Alkhattat, rootsgardens@yahoo.com

Apply for the Sierra Harvest Farm Crew!

Build your farming skills through on-the-job training, advanced coursework, and an individualized learning plan. Farm Crew members work April through November on a farm or ranch in Nevada County while attending weekly classes in sustainable production methods and building a community alongside a cohort of other early-career farmers.

Learn more at http://sierraharvest.org/farm-crew/.

Job responsibilities will be determined by the host farms. Each Farm Crew member will be placed on a host farm to work a minimum of 20 hours per week at minimum wage (some host farms may offer more hours.)

An additional 10 hours per week will be spent working towards independent educational goals. Learn to repair a tractor! Keep a hive of bees! Manage a greenhouse! Operate a goat dairy! Our host-farms offer a wide range of skill-building opportunities and we will support you to create an individualized learning plan to set and meet goals over the course of the season. Make the most of your first few years farming!

Farm Crew members from across the region will gather weekly as a cohort to attend advanced production skills courses and community building events.

Ideal candidates for Farm Crew are:
-Serious about a career in sustainable farming and ranching,
-Prepared to commit to and work hard for a commercial farming operation for an entire season,
-Have had some experience farming,
-Excited to live in a rustic setting,
- Ready and willing to build community with other Farm Crew members,
-Committed to independent learning.

Hard working, motivated early-career farmers are encouraged to fill out this online application: http://sierraharvest.org/farm-crew-application/

ON-LINE LEARNING

BIODYNAMIC FARMER TRAINING POWERPOINT

For those farmers wanting to spend some time walking through the seven principles of the Demeter Biodynamic Farm Standard, for farm apprentices and students, or anyone for that matter who wants to learn more about what it takes to be a Demeter certified farm, we want to remind you about this comprehensive PowerPoint presentation. Please feel free to share it with anyone you think would find it helpful. There is so much opportunity in the Biodynamic marketplace that we can't train farmers fast enough. We are hoping that this presentation will help.

DOWNLOAD POWERPOINT PRESENTATION HERE

 

Special Crowd Funding Opportunity

 

Community Education Building at Live Power Community Farm
Fundraising Project

 

Greetings from the Wet North Country at Live Power Community Farm!

The plants, the animals, the soil, the creeks, the streams, the fish, the river, the humans, all are so grateful for the bounty of rain we have been receiving.  We wanted to give BDANC members and supporters an update on the fundraising effort that the Live Power CSA members initiated for the farm's community education building.

At its core, Live Power is about teaching. It is about expanding our understanding of what it means to care for the land and each other. While the farm produces the food that nurtures, it is the means by which we produce the food which ultimately nurtures our spirits. And it is this spiritual nurturing, the teachings about how to live with and on the land, that will ultimately have the greatest and most lasting impact. Live Power’s teachings plant seeds that continue to grow in lasting ways in every visitor who drops by, every class that visits the farm, and every apprentice who spends a season there.  

Ten years ago, Stephen and Gloria Decater started construction on a large building to use as a community space for learning activities such as lectures, peer-to-peer learning, school class visits, tour orientations, and workshops. It will also be a spontaneous welcoming and fun space where music, dancing, conversation and re-connection will thrive. When completed, it will also be a place for our Live Power Community of CSAers, BDANC supporters and schools to stay during farm visits. 

The building is framed and has a roof, but it was never completed on the inside due to time limitations and money constraints.  

$150,000 is needed to complete the educational building. Your gift will ensure a continued legacy of education about Live Power Biodynamic farming.

Please join us in contributing to ensure this legacy. We are looking for donations of $1500 from 100 families in order to accomplish this fundraising goal quickly. And we know that it will take some larger and smaller amounts to achieve the goal, so, all contributions are welcome.  But TIME is of the essence to get a commitment from the contractors to ensure the building is ready for the 2016-17 school year.

Dollar for Dollar

Match by an Anonymous Donor - limited Time Offer!

Gloria and Steven's son, Christopher, has a construction company (C&C Construction) in Covelo that have offered to do the work on the building at a reduced "family" rate. The building is 1728 square feet, which needs to have all the electrical, plumbing, insulation, drywall, trim, doors, windows, lights, wood flooring, paining, siding, etc. completed.  To keep the costs down Stephen and the farm apprentices will do some of the work so that the apprentices can learn some of the construction skills, which they are quite excited about.  In addition the funding will outfit the interior with needed seating, sleeping futons, heating stove, kitchen stove, sinks, refrigerator, and kitchen equipment for visiting groups to use.  Any left over money will be used for maintenance.

Current structure as seen from the fruit tree orchard.

Current structure as seen from the fruit tree orchard.

While the current structure which has been housing onions, winter squash, wood, horse equipment, etc., what is envisioned is a wonderful open community space for classes of children who come to learn about farming, CSA and BDANC members/guests to stay in when visiting, group tours, agrarian workshops, lectures, Biodynamic farming meetings, peer-to peer learning and the list goes on. Not to mention having a wonderful wooden dance floor for coming together for having conversation, reconnecting, dancing, and celebrating!

Please consider donating whatever you can as soon as you can to help us get this project going and provide a wonderful, warm, welcoming place for all to learn about farming, particularly our Live Power farming!

There is $20,500 donated so far. Many thanks to those donors!

If you have family, friends, or foundations that you think might be interested in helping with this project, please let us know.

Where to Donate: North Coast Opportunities

Donations will be tax deductible through North Coast Opportunities in Ukiah, an amazing organization that has been helping farmers in Mendocino and Lake Counties for many years. Please visit www.ncoinc.org to get a better idea about our fiscal sponsor. For ease of collecting please:

  • Make either donations by check to North Coast Opportunities noting Live Power Community Farm in the memo. Mail to: North Coast Opportunities, 413 North State Street, Ukiah, CA 95482.
  • Or donate through PaypPal at www.ncoinc.org/give. Please note Live Power Community Farm in your PayPal message.
  • For your personal tax records the Federal Tax ID number is 94-1671958 for North Coast Opportunities.

If you have other questions that have not been addressed here, please call Gloria and Stephen Decater at 707-983-8196 (home) or email: gloriadecater2@gmail.com.

Thank you!

BDANC, Live Power CSA members, Gloria and Stephen Decater, and Live Power Apprentices


North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program (NABDAP)

The following information is provided by the Biodynamic Association (BDA):

Mentor farms for California are listed on this page. Click on the farm name for more information and photos of the farm, along with apprenticeship details, skills that can be learned, and contact information. This list will be continually updated by NABDAP. Potential apprentices may inquire NABDAP about working with a farm not on this list.

Regional Coordinator: Blaire Ladd (link sends e-mail)


German Form Drawing Book.jpg

 

Live Power Community Farm Seeking Apprentices

Live Power Community Farm in Mendocino County, Calidfornia is seeking 2-3 apprentices. Live Power is a 40-acre, solar electric and horse-powered, diversified, Demeter Certified Biodynamic® farm. 

Apprenticeship Details: We operate the farm collaboratively with the apprentices. We rotate through areas of responsibility and learning throughout the season. The majority of the learning takes place through the hands-on work itself, and through the discussions that take place while working in the field. We hold a weekly organizational meeting including a garden walk and discussion. Longer, in-depth discussions often take place during meals, or in more formal workshops. We can generally fit in 6 or 7 formal workshops each season, usually during the spring and fall, on topics of the group’s choice. Evening study groups focusing on a specific text are also possible. Apprentices may attend the quarterly meetings of the Biodynamic Association of Northern California, and are invited to seek out other educational opportunities outside of the farm, including workshops and visits to other farms.

Work is full time, from dawn to 6PM Monday through Friday and Saturday until lunch. We take Saturday afternoon and Sunday off. It is demanding work, but it is rewarding, and will give you basic preparation for farm life and for your own endeavor within the context of producing a season's crop. We provide room, board, and a stipend for 4-6 apprentices.

For more information visit Live Power Community Farm's mentor farm page. 

 

Raphael Garden Seeking Apprentice

Raphael Garden is a very diversified operation despite its small size. It is labor intensive, with raised beds; a small tractor used for tillage, but most bed preparation is done by hand. The seed saving operation is very central to the garden activities. All preparation plants are grown on the farm. Preparations are made on the farm or in conjunction with BDANC (Biodynamic Association of Northern California). Garden host week long class visits from Waldorf schools. Raphael Garden is integrated into the life of Rudolf Steiner College. Apprentices participate in all its biodynamic offerings, including weekend classes on BD, plus selected other classes and the festival life of the campus community. Apprentices also participate in the quarterly meetings of BDANC.

Size of farm: 3 acres, within a 13 acre campus: 1 acre Garden, 1 acre pastured orchard with sheep, 1 acre cow pasture

Skills that can be learned: See Raphael Garden's skills checklists.

Apprenticeship Details: Currently seeking an apprentice. Compensation includes $250/mo in 1st year and $500/mo in 2nd year, plus free housing, and produce from garden. For more details see http://steinercollege.edu/apprenticeship

Mentor Farmer: Harald Hoven

Address: Rudolf Steiner College, 9200 Fair Oaks Blvd., Fair Oaks, CA 95628

Phone: (916) 965-0389

Fax: (916) 961-2662

Email: hhoven@steinercollege.edu

Website: www.steinercollege.edu

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Community Supported Assistance
Help us help each other. If you have land available, equipment to sell, need a farmer, would like to farm, please submit your needs to our Newsletter editor - carinfortin@mac.com and our Website editor - dhfairbanks@csuchico.edu Send your contribution in unformatted text, images are welcome.