Agroecology Commons’ Summer News Share
As the warm days wind down and the last of the sunflowers dance in the field, we begin our transitions into autumn. Throughout the summer we’ve enjoyed an abundant harvest of vegetables that have nourished our collective and community. Our educational programs including farmer-to-farmer skillshares and the Bay Area Farmer-to-Farmer training program are in full swing, connecting land stewards to learn, share practices, and strengthen a movement for land justice, food sovereignty, and agroecology from California to Cuba to Palestine. Read along to learn more about recent projects, educational endeavors, and more!
Community Education
Photo Caption: 2024 Bay Area Farmer-to-Farmer Training Cohort at Kristyn Leach’s Gohyang Seed Campus
We can hardly believe we are eight months into our 9-month Bay Area Farmer-to-Farmer Training Program (BAFFT)! A huge thank you to all our incredible partner farmers and educators who have contributed to this program. Their dedication is the foundation of this hybrid course, which combines in-person on-farm learning with online sessions, connecting us with organizers, farmers, and educators worldwide. These experiences have expanded our understanding of farming, community-building, and agroecological stewardship.
Here’s a recap of some of the spring and summer sessions:
Indigenous Foodways and Seed Sovereignty: We kicked off by grounding ourselves in seeds with Mohawk Indigenous seedkeeper Rowen White. Rowen’s clarity and poetic words conveyed seed stewardship as an act of resistance to colonizer capitalism and as a act of cultural revitalization and hope for future generations.
Holistic Soil Stewardship: Led by soil scientists and farmers Aidee Guzmán, Josh Garcia, and Cole Rainey, this session explored composting, no-till farming, and soil fertility. It was a reminder to nurture reciprocity with the earth, balancing what we give and take.
Black Agrarianism, Land Access, and Agency: Dr. Gail Myers and Ali Anderson inspired us with lessons on Black agrarian traditions, land access, and cooperative networks. They highlighted the deep connection between abolitionism, agroecology, and community-based economies.
Agroecological Resilience in Cuba and California: Chavely Casimiro from Cuba’s Finca Del Medio shared her and her family’s story creating an agroecological self-sufficient farm during the Special Period in Cuba that feeds their entire family as well as hosts visiting farmers, students, and artists. Mai Nguyen of Farmer Mai in California shared their skills and devotion to agroecological wheat production, cooperative organizing, and land justice.
Global Social Movements for Agroecology and Food Sovereignty: We learned from comrades worldwide, including Joelson from Brazil’s MST movement, Yara from Om Slieman Farm in Palestine, Marlen from the Rural Worker’s Association in Nicaragua who are members of the global social movement La Via Campesina, and Yasmeen from the Union of Agricultural Work Committees in Palestine. This session celebrated the power of farmers and activists uniting to globalize the struggle, and to globalize the hope for land justice, food sovereignty, and agroecology.
Seed Production and Ancestral Foodways: We we inspired by Kristyn Leach’s skill and devotion to seed ethics, saving, and stewardship during our time at Gohyang Seed Campus. Walking through fields of Korean perilla, we learned how seeds carry stories, nourishment, and hope. We also had a heart-warming session with Aileen Suzara, connecting childhood memories, ancestral roots, and community building through food.
Orchard Care, Grafting, and Food Safety: Our session at Planting Justice’s Mother Farm was a hands-on day of learning about fruit tree management and pruning. Yenni and Adela shared grafting techniques, and Julio taught us about caring for fruit trees. As we planted pineapple guava trees together, we tended to our own community connections. We ended the day with our own collective member, Lazzlo Jenkins, sharing about best practices and tips for food safety.
We are forever grateful for all our partner farms and educators who have made this program possible. Stay tuned to our next newsletter for a report back of second half of our classes!
Photo Caption: Soil Farmer-to-Farmer Skillshare hosted recently at Agroecology Commons Farm
Outside of BAFFT we have also been organizing Farmer-to-Farmer Skillshares, our most recent was entitled, “Soil Sovereignty? Low to No-Cost Soil Amendments and Evaluations on your farm”.
A huge shout out to the incredible farmers who helped facilitate this recent skillshare:
Willow Holiday, for teaching us how to make fish fertilizers, and demonstrating a sustainable way to enhance soil nutrients using local and natural resources.
Cole Rainey, for sharing your expertise on various soil health bio-indicators and guiding us in scientifically rigorous yet accessible soil health evaluations.
Kevin Perdomo, for your engaging presentation on compost and compost teas, showing us practical, low-cost strategies to improve soil and plant health.
Land Stewardship
Photo Caption: Harvesting cauliflower on the farm
The farm has been bursting with life this season as we cultivated a vibrant variety of crops including onions, kale, collards, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, purple hull peas, potatoes, straw flowers, squash, yarrow, oregano, thyme, lemon balm, sunflowers, calendula, marigolds, and so much more!
We are also excited to say that the construction of our new outdoor classroom is almost complete! The gathering space will be used to host educational programming, cultural events, and simply offer a comfortable place to commune with the land. Special thanks to Wild Earth Art a women-led regenerative design firm for supporting the design and Tomás and team from Green Tom Landscaping for helping to bring it to fruition!
Photo Caption: Potatoes being harvested on the farm
Networks and Solidarity
Photo Caption: Recent Farm Visit with HBCU-Berkeley Environmental Scholars for Change Program
This summer it was an honor and joy to welcome students from the HBCU-Berkeley Environmental Scholars for Change Program to our farm! This amazing program brings together brilliant minds from the University of California-Berkeley, Spelman College, and Tuskegee University, all passionate about research in diverse and intersecting environmental fields like agri-food systems, biodiversity, climate, and water, with a strong focus on justice.
During their visit on the farm we had enriching conversations around agroecology, shared the joy of goat snuggles, and had a blast exploring and tasting the various medicinal herbs growing on our farm.
Over the last few months, we have also been collaborating with the Sustainable Economies Law Center to offer farmers free legal consultations with their incredible network of lawyers. These legal cafes have covered a range of topics including; starting worker-owned cooperatives choosing a business entity type, acquiring land, creating agreements with co-owners, labor and employment laws, taxes, negotiating land contracts, liability, governance decision-making structures, and more!
Collective Organizing
Photo Caption: Sunflowers being grown on the farm
This summer, our Collective Organizing (CO) circle went deep into organizational planning and internal systems refinement. During a collective retreat, we reflected on what has worked and what hasn’t in our past, dreamed and schemed on our future, refined internal systems— and splashed around in the Russian River! By integrating our programming, fundraising, and reporting timelines into a project management tool, we are excited to improve more easeful workflows, program impact, and collective resilience. CO has also had the privilege of joining a conflict resilience training facilitated by Harmonize, a worker-owned cooperative that provides training for organizations to navigate conflict in an honest, liberatory, and loving way.
BAFFT Alumni Spotlight- Kahayag Gabrielle Fay
Photo Caption: BAFFT Graduate Kahayag
A graduate of the BAFFT 2022 cohort, Kahayag was deeply influenced by the community-based learning environments Agroecology Commons provided for the next generation of land stewards and farmers in California. Due to her upbringing in the Indigenous Land Rights movement across the Philippines and Indonesia; Agroecology as an ecological and socio-political movement was an appropriate tool for Kahayag to deepen her analysis of our current food system and the practice of healing it. She is currently in her homelands in Indonesia, organizing with young land stewards and farmers on the front lines of climate change and neo-colonial globalization. Together they are currently co-creating a support network and coalition of young regenerative farmers across the islands to have access to mentorship, climate resilience trainings, traditional knowledge archives, solidarity, and micro-grants to fund basic things like vermicomposting systems, drip irrigation, and community gatherings and teach-in’s. If you’d like to learn more about this work, feel free to contact Kahayag via email or Instagram, she’d be happy to hear from you. She will be sharing more stories about her work through various media in the weeks to come. Email: perempuan.dunia11@gmail.com Instagram: kahibalo.kulai
Upcoming Events
Our Farmer Wellness Day is gathering focused on wellness and mutual care for farmers and land stewards.
With the support of a network of community healers, we seek to honor the people whose physical labor and unwavering dedication to land stewardship bring food to our tables. During this Farmer Wellness Day, farmers will receive various kinds of healing offerings, including massage, acupuncture, chiropractic care, nourishing food, legal consults, market connections, and more! Childcare, lunch, translation services, and participation stipends are available.
Please register below, spots are limited.
