We are sending warm thoughts to all those coping with loss, damages, or hardship after last week's wild storm. While we experienced significant flooding on our farm, all of our people and animals are safe. We and our tenant farmers are dealing with crop loss and storm cleanup. Sharing info for our farmer friends: Farm Service Agency has a variety of supports for farmers. Their local office is in Templeton and you can reach out to 805-434-0396 and/or jeffrey.sledd@usda.gov for assistance. Community Alliance with Family Farmers is in the process of setting up emergency funds for farmers impacted by last week's storm and will have a brief application process available by the end of January for farms that need financial relief. Awards are expected to be sent out around mid February. (Thanks to Claire at Slow Money SLO for sharing this info with us!) |
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In 2022, City Farm SLO welcomed a new tenant farmer and three new staff, doubled the number of students served in our Therapeutic Horticulture Program, funded and began building a Garden for All, launched our College Corps program hosting 28 Fellows, received federal funding to launch a farmer collaborative, doubled our flock of sheep, reached over 1,250 SLO County youth with education programs, and so much more! Our work is possible thanks to community support. You can help today by becoming a Friend of the Farm sustaining member! |
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Apply Now for our 2023 Summer Youth Empowerment Program We are now accepting applications for our THREE summer cohorts of YEP. Teens earn $200 for participating while building career and college readiness skills. Apply Here! |
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Our Therapeutic Horticulture students practiced “Square Foot Gardening” as they began planting into our first raised bed of the Garden for All. The students welcomed this holiday season by sewing seeds and designing pots to bring home to their families. They planted cilantro, basil, spinach, and beet sprouts to be used for any holiday recipe! |
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Our Pacific Beach High School Students recently learned how to pickle carrots, beets, onions, shallots, and garlic as a way to preserve extra produce and reduce food waste. They also learned all about the importance of composting and got a lesson from Farmer Shane on how we flip and take care of our compost. We now have 15 compost-flipping experts! |
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Our first major flood On Monday, January 9th, Prefumo Creek overflowed and flooded parts of our fields. At the high point of the storm, our back plot had a shallow lake that was roughly 3 acres in size and 2.5 feet deep. This area is planted with cover crop and olive trees, and it looks like there was not significant damage aside from soil deposition. There were also many places on the farm where water was flowing quickly across the surface of the ground. The back of two of our tenants’ plots were hit hard by this surface water, and they have substantial crop loss. Fortunately, no infrastructure was badly damaged. Rain events of this magnitude are rare, and everyone at City Farm is safe (including our animals!) We will be doing a large creek restoration project soon, and we will try to improve the creek drainage during that process, but there is only so much we can do. We are farming in a flood plain, so occasionally we need to deal with excess stormwater. When visiting please be careful to keep cars out of any muddy areas to prevent damage to the farm and your vehicle. |
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City Farm SLO's monthly newsletter is archived here. Forward this newsletter to a friend! |
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