There are many local farms in the Bay Area where families can visit to learn about how food is grown and raised and meet the farmers who make it happen.
Farming and Ranching
Fall Issue 2008
Book Review: Ranches and Rolling Hills
Ranches & Rolling Hills: Art of West Marin–A Land in Trust, by Elisabeth Ptak and the Marin Agricultural Land Trust, Windgate Press, 2008, 160 pages, $50.00 The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT), which preserves West Marin farmland, has created a … Read more
Fall Issue 2008
MALT’s Dolcini Ranch Purchase
In West Marin, the Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT) has purchased an agricultural conservation easement on the 585-acre Dolcini Ranch, a property the land trust has been seeking to protect for over a decade. Located eight miles south of Petaluma, … Read more
Fall Issue 2008
Reaping the Harvest
It’s easy to forget how much of the Bay Area was once a working landscape. Row crops, orchards, and pastures held sway in places now covered by freeways and houses. But a surprising amount of that working land endures in our parks and preserves. In the East Bay, ranchers still run cattle on thousands of acres of land, both public and private. And in a few places, thanks to the East Bay Regional Park District, kids and adults can learn firsthand about skills people once took for granted: how to plant a seed, plow a field, grind grain into flour, or spin wool into yarn.
Spring Issue 2007
A Working Pond for a Working Ranch
Walnut grower Craig McNamara often gets asked about his father, Robert McNamara, former U.S. secretary of defense (1961—68) and World Bank president (1968—81). But the younger McNamara lives far removed from the halls of power in Washington: Since buying his … Read more
Spring Issue 2007
Letter from the Publisher
About 15 years ago, I took a solo backpack trip in the Carson-Iceberg Wilderness near Ebbets Pass in the Sierra. On the first morning, camped beside a small lake, I was awakened—much too early!—by the sound of moos and bells, … Read more
Farming and Ranching, Water
Looking Ahead on the Napa River
In our January-March 2007 feature, “Valley of Water and Wine,” we highlight the innovative work of landowners along the Napa River who are initiating restoration projects on the upper reaches of the river. The Rutherford Dust Society, a group of … Read more
Winter Issue 2006
West Marin
Driving out to the coast among the seemingly endless ranks of Marin County hills, studded with rock outcrops and spotted with grazing cows, you can feel the calmness that flows from a stable landscape. It has always been this way, … Read more
Winter Issue 2005
Resources for Healthy Soil
General Information Sources and Websites Bio-Integral Resource Center http://www.birc.org (510)524-2567 Extensive information resources for least-toxic pest management. California Integrated Waste Management Board http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/organics/gardening Information and resources for organic materials management and home gardening, including grasscycling, home composting, and worm composting. … Read more
Winter Issue 2005
Soil-Friendly Practices
Organic matter is the most important part of the soil because it is fodder for the many organisms that keep soil alive and elastic. And because it is consumed by these organisms, soil organic matter needs to be replenished. The … Read more
