Notes from the Editor

By Julia Van Soelen Kim, Editor
With Paulette Swallow and David Lewis, Co-editors

As we edit this winter issue of Grown in Marin News, residents across Marin County and Northern California are bracing for the biggest storm in years. Excitement is in the air, the sky is a deep gray, and the wind is starting to blow. Rain—lots of rain—is expected over the next few days and I can’t think of a better way to close 2014.

This year has been hard for Marin County farmers and ranchers. Experienced producers had their skills tested by this ongoing drought. New and beginning producers had to learn double-time. Everyone has had drought on their mind, and finally some of this worry can ease up just a bit.

This month provided me with the opportunity to host a small group of farmers from the North Bay on a farm tour in nearby Capay Valley, Yolo County. Our tour was perfectly timed, taking place between two rain storms. It was wet and muddy on the farms we visited, rainbows and sun showers were abundant, and it was pure magic. I think I had forgotten what heavy mud caked on my boots felt like—weighing down each step, creating the slightest of suction that then gave way to slip-sliding. It was also magic being out in the field with the young farmers on our tour. They were eager to learn and were ready to soak in new information with the shared spirit of “cooperatition” (a blend of cooperation and competition). As with other young farmers I meet through my work, they listened attentively to their farming colleagues, took detailed notes, and asked smart questions.

In this issue, you can read about the next generation of Marin County farmers in Making Room at Marin’s Farming Table and The Future is Looking Bright. Whether these young people are new to farming or whether they grew up around it, I think you will find that their outlook is positive, creative, and resourceful. And while they may say they still have a lot to learn, I think we all have a lot more to learn from them!
 

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