We are a Farming Community!

Grow

Our sustainable farming practices emphasize soil fertility, biological diversity, growing for local markets, and creating a relationship-based food system. Delicious, fresh, seasonal, humane; We grow food to sustain ourselves, our community, and our environment.

On our pie-slice shaped piece of land, we grow pie ingredients including wheat for crusts, fruits for filling, raise chickens for eggs, goats and cows for milk and butter, and vegetables for healthy meals. We sell our crops at our farm stand, to local bakeries including Mission Pie, and have a Community Supported Eggriculture egg share program.

Educate

Youth Education & Leadership Development

An integral piece of Pie Ranch’s vision is to partner with youth around food & farming. The youth we work with are usually high school students from the Bay Area, Pescadero and Santa Cruz; however, we also serve other groups from all over the globe. Our main focus is on providing the opportunity for repeat visits rather than one-time experiences on the farm. We believe that repeat visits build upon themselves; youth connect to the land, to the staff, and to each other. Trust and respect grow as youth experience the cycle of days, weeks, months, seasons, and years.

Examples of Educational Programming at Pie Ranch:

• Mission High School Piesters: English & Science classes unite & come to the Ranch once a month to engage in farming activities, journaling, observation, and reflection, food preparation, and celebration. The year culminates in an overnight at the end of the school year.
• Mission High English Language Learners: Monthly visits provide these youth the opportunity to practice their English in the context of a farm, engaging in farm activities and food preparation.
• Oceana High School: During their “intersession” week, these students engage in the rhythms of the days & nights. Goat milking, egg collecting, farm activities & cooking three meals per day are balanced with hikes, journaling, and a visit to Ano Nuevo State Reserve.
• Pescadero High School:  Monthly visits provide these local youth with the opportunity to engage in food harvesting, food preparation, journaling and observation of the natural cycles of the farm.

While we prioritize repeat visits with youth, we also serve other age groups and one-time visits as scheduling permits.  We are currently booking Our school programming (harvesting, overnights, cooking instruction, farming & nutritional classes) days for the fall of 2013.  As an alternative to programming, we offer schools & other groups a tour of Pie Ranch that takes folks over the 27 acres of the farm, discusses sustainable farming practices, the history of the site and can include (according to season) sampling from the fields.  This two-hour tour can be tailored to a group’s particular needs or interests. We do have a limited amount of tour slots available.  School groups may schedule this tour for a special rate of $10-20//pp.  A beautiful site is available for a self-hosted group picnic directly after the tour for an additional $50.

For questions about visits, for details on pricing, or to schedule a program, contact Kelly Munoz at kelly@pieranch.org or 650-879-0995.

Farmer Apprenticeships

Pie Ranch is a unique sustainable food system education and advocacy organization. We seek to inspire and create a new generation of farmers, educators, entrepreneurs, and advocates with the knowledge and the skills to work together to build a healthy, sustainable, inclusive food system. Our work is based on the assumption that a sustainable food system can only emerge when both rural and urban communities understand and are accountable to each aspect of the system.

Emerging Farmer Program — Apprenticeships & Internships at Pie Ranch

Our Emerging Farmer Program includes our year-long Apprenticeship Program & Summer Internship Program.

 We are offering 1-year Apprenticeships to enthusiastic, hard-working, self-motivated individuals interested in engaging in sustainable agriculture and social justice.

 Apprentices help out with all aspects of the ranch. Work includes sowing, planting, weeding, irrigating, and harvesting a variety of crops; animal husbandry; experiential education with youth and other groups; direct marketing through our farm stand, Community Supported Agriculture program and sales to local restaurants & bakeries.

 While the Apprenticeship model is mainly focused on learning by doing, our weekly farm meeting/walk and monthly classes are opportunities to expand your knowledge around sustainable food production.

 Our Apprenticeship program runs from the end of January to December 21st. We seek people who are able to dedicate the entire year to this effort and in return there is the opportunity to experience from cover crop to cover crop, the full cycle of a farm.

 Payment to apprentices includes room in individual 14’ yurts, board (all you can eat from the farm & basic staples), and a $500/month stipend plus $100 for health benefits. Apprentices have access to their own garden space, composting toilet, outdoor shower and two rustic, simple kitchens. We also consider the opportunity to live, learn, and work on a beautiful farm engaged in meaningful work as a form of payment. Two weeks of vacation and the equivalent of traditional holidays are honored.

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2013 Apprenticeship year.  Please check back in the summer of 2013 to apply for the 2014 Apprenticeship.