As you may remember from our previous blog post, the Grange Farm School in Mendocino County, CA is a 3-month residential farmer training program that combines classroom instruction with experiential education. The program is halfway through its first term, and the fall session-- starts September 1st.
The Grange School curriculum focuses on holistic crop and livestock production, and their three-month terms are oriented towards aspiring farmers. They, "recognize the immediate the need to train farmers to support themselves with economically viable farm operations balanced with our focus on production and distribution methods which emphasize long term environmental responsibility"-- and we couldn't agree more!
The Fall term is $2,000, which includes concurrent enrollment in Mendocino college and credit through the college. The fall curriculum will include everything from plant propagation to composting; raising chickens for eggs and meat to marketing and business skills; harvesting; processing and marketing produce, grains, and orchard fruit; cover cropping; seed saving; and pasture development. The program will also "give students the opportunity to guide the farm through its first months of growth, maintain a succession of diversified livestock for meat and eggs, work with urban gardeners in nearby Ukiah, and build the foundations for this community centered non-profit."
Read more on their website and facebook page! Instructions for applying are here. The deadline for application is July 25th.