The coming of winter encourages the pause to reflect, and when we look over our shoulders at 2007, the vista is one of expansion - expansion of our community, of our capacity, of our collaborations, of our spirits, and of the scope of work that you have supported all year. We want to thank you for all that you have contributed to this expansion, and invite you to continue on this unfolding journey with us in 2008 as we share progress in building a thriving local food system and in growing intimate understanding about where food comes from.

Some of the highlights among many from 2007 include:

Significant expansion of our laying flock by 140 hens, and the inaugural season of our Community Supported Eggriculture project. 22 Coastside households and 8 in San Francisco committed with their spirits and pocketbooks to support building a second and much larger mobile coop and waited while the chicks matured and started laying. Now these CSE members are enjoying their full year’s bounty of a weekly dozen eggs.

Expansion of our human flock, too! We welcomed apprentices to Pie Ranch, and were blessed by Cooper Funk spending the entire year with us. The other apprentice position was filled in turn by the generous contributions of Paul Glowaski, Anna Lee, Katie Blank, and Elena Wertenbaker; we also welcomed two interns from the Ecole Polytechnique, Christophe Bodin and Charles Chiapolino.

We more than doubled strawberry production, and tripled our winter squash and heirloom dry bean yields. We brought in over 500 pounds of wheat from our trials on the neighboring Cascade Ranch and harvested our first wheat and barley crops from the Lower Slice with the 1953 Allis Chalmers All-crop Harvester. With the help of several of you, we installed a native hedgerow along the road’s edge, planted a new block of citrus trees, winnowed mountains of dried beans, split lots of firewood, and braided very long strands of pop-corn that are now hanging from the barn rafters.

We celebrated the beginning of the 3rd year of partnership with Mission High School and Nextcourse; through monthly day-long visits, students from Mission engage in farming, cooking and eating, exercising their knowledge of sustainability and community. We welcomed a number of other potential partner schools, including Gateway High School (SF), the Urban School (SF), Pescadero High School, Oceana (Pacifica), and Eastside College Preparatory School (East Palo Alto.) We received new grants for educational programming from the Stewardship Council, the Cleo Foundation, the Potrero Nuevo Fund, and Columbia Foundation, and numerous contributions from you, our community!

Motivated to be a supportive business collaborator with Pie Ranch, Mission Pie opened last January at 25th and Mission Streets in San Francisco. In this first year of business, the Mission Pie partnership of Joe Schuver, our own Karen Heisler, and Krystin Rubin launched the youth employment development part of the program by hiring 9 Mission High students. Mission Pie is a loyal and steady customer of Pie Ranch for berries and squash, and is our source for value-added baked goods for the farmstand. Mission Pie purchased the combine for Pie Ranch’s use to advance the farm’s grain production. Mission students brought the shop to life during their winter break, and have infused it with purpose and spirit ever since. For them, Mission Pie offers not only a job but also a way to proudly share with their farm experience with their own communities.

With generous support from some dear neighbors to make improvements to the roadside barn, the Pie Ranch farmstand, a collaboration with Blue House Farm, was open for a full season of weekends from Memorial Day until early November. Mission High students worked Saturdays at the farmstand, learning firsthand about direct marketing. Neighbor, Donna Richeson says that the farmstand offers “the true luxury of having in our community the health-giving benefits of organic food grown and provided right from our local farmers. The true beauty of walking into the barn and seeing the array of vegetables and berries is a deeply satisfying experience for me. It feels like art and sustenance all in one glance. I absolutely love to cook so this display of the freshest locally grown produce is the best of what can be brought into my kitchen for my family’s health at all levels.”

The roadside barn also hosted the phenomenon of the monthly barn dance, a community gathering that has snowballed into a beautiful rollicking evening on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Thanks to the fantastic music of the energetic and talented County Line Pickers (including our own Nancy Vail), and graced by professional caller (and friend and neighbor) Andy Wilson, the ever-growing and magical community of which you are a part swings and promenades through each barn dance, and then leaves with cheeks sore from smiling and laughing. Says Donna, “There is an ingredient of spirit that comes out of Pie Ranch that has really touched us. And I know we aren’t the only ones who feel this way. I have heard others express the same sentiment. Whatever has formed the foundation of philosophy about food and sustainable agriculture at Pie Ranch has also been expressed through the spirit of the owners about being a community. This is a powerful combination. For me, this elevates my hopes that culturally we can see the value in a simpler life filled with richness of experience but not materialism -- hard to do in an increasingly fast-paced world that seems to believe that more is better at all levels.”

We were blessed with a steady stream of complimentary media attention this year, from a couple of pieces in the Half Moon Bay Review, to the beautiful Food section feature written by Janet Fletcher in May. These and the San Mateo County Times, Noe Valley Voice, Sierra, and Gourmet were the papers and magazines that wrote about Pie Ranch and Mission Pie, along with numerous internet news serves and blogs: Edutopia, Tabblehopper, KQED Food Blog, Eggbeater, Sustainable Table and several others. We’re feeling the love.

Our children continued to amaze and delight us: Rosa walked before her first birthday and is uncommonly generous with her hugs and smiles; Lucas turned 3 and is talking up a storm, often guiding farm visitors through a tour of the farm equipment; Jesse turned 20 and worked at Mission Pie during her summer break home from college, even some shifts with her mama.

Please join us in gratitude and pride for the expansive vision that you are helping to make a reality. We thank you deeply for all that you have given. The coming year promises to be equally dynamic, calling on our continued dedication and hard work. We can’t do it without your direct support, nor without your continued celebration of our success to date. Please consider Pie Ranch among your end-of-year giving priorities. Thank you.

Jered Lawson, Nancy Vail and Karen Heisler

We are grateful to the Rudolf Steiner Foundation (RSF) for serving as our fiscal sponsor while we wait for non-profit status to be granted. If you would like to make an on-line donation to Pie Ranch through RSF, just click here and add “Pie Ranch/Green Oaks Fund” to the first box that says Designation. If you prefer to send a donation in the mail, please make checks payable to RSF Social Finance. On the memo line of your check, please write “Green Oaks Fund,” designate CAPITAL or PROGRAM support if you choose to be specific, and mail your donation to us at Pie Ranch, PO Box 138 Davenport, CA 95017.

THANK YOU AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS!