Hello Friends!

Ready for some fun in the sun on the farm?

We’re beginning our Saturday Volunteer Days this weekend, and we wanted to answer any questions you may have. First of all, thank you for your interest in volunteering at Terra Cultura! To stay up to date on volunteer activities, sign up!

Here’s what you need to know about volunteering on the farm:

Who We Are:
Terra Cultura is an educational nonprofit that weaves together art and agriculture (an “art farm”). Our mission is to cultivate resilient communities empowered through education and collaboration in agroecology, sustainable living, and the arts. We moved onto our new 5.65 acre farm site in April 2018, and have been busy turning this raw land into a community hub for food, culture, and growth. During this exciting phase, we’re looking to you, our wonderful community, to help shape what this place will become.

What’s In It For You:
One of the best ways to get involved is to come volunteer on the land! Beginning, Saturday, July 28th we’ll have Volunteer Days every Saturday from 9am-5pm. Sign up so we know to expect you! We’ll be getting our hands dirty alongside you, working on various ecologically-minded farm and infrastructure projects. Our site in Aromas, CA is a beautiful place to get your dose of nature and fresh air. Only 30 minutes from Monterey and Santa Cruz, 45 minutes from San Jose, and 1.5 hours from San Francisco, the rural setting and small town vibe makes a peaceful getaway. We work hard to make each volunteer’s experience fun, educational, and satisfying. You’ll get a bit of a work out too! You will also have the gratification of seeing your labor manifest into tangible results. A little bit of work goes a long way here, and improvements are visible. You’ll be making a big contribution to an exciting, new project, and making the world a little better in the process. Everything we do here has the goal of positive change socially, environmentally, and economically— locally and with broad ripple effects. We love our volunteers, and have events throughout the year to honor them and express our gratitude. We hope you’ll come be a part of it.

There are projects to fit many interests and skill levels. A typical volunteer day might look like this:

Sample Volunteer Day Schedule:
9:00am: Hellos, and Morning Tour of Terra Cultura
10:00am: Circle up to discuss the morning project, collect tools
10:30am: Begin morning work on the morning project
12:30pm: Lunch Break
1:30pm: Circle up to discuss afternoon project
2:00pm: Begin afternoon work on the afternoon project
4:00pm: Afternoon Tour of Terra Cultura, and Goodbyes

Here’s a taste of current volunteer projects happening on the land over the next several months:

Check Log Terraces For Crop Beds:
Help us build our garden beds! Learn about climate-smart land management techniques to build healthy soil, conserve resources, and restore healthy plant, animal, and human eco-systems. We’re establishing our bio-intensive, no-till crop beds, where we’ll grow organic foods to feed those who need it. We’d love your help! This project involves some heavy lifting, but many hands make light work! Grab one of our pick axes and shovels and get ready to make some terraces out of check logs.

Compost, Mulch, and Cover Crops:
We received a grant from the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) that is helping to fund climate-smart farm practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions by sequestering carbon in the soil. Come help us spread some organic material over our land, and learn about climate-smart and resources-wise techniques for regenerating the land and building healthier soils. So come fill some wheel barrows with us, and feed the soil some nutrients.

Food Forest and Hedgerows:
We’re establishing a food forest and silvopasture! We’ll be planting a bunch of food-producing hedges and trees, using methods of agroforestry to reproduce systems of nature to maintain a balanced ecosystem. This ancient, but increasingly popular method of farming means healthier, biodiverse habitats for humans, plants, and animals. Come plant with us!

Yurt Construction:
Eventually we plan to have prototype examples of various green building structures. Yurts will be the first! They’ll house visiting artists, students, and teachers participating in our educational programs. Come learn about eco-friendly, resource-wiseIf dwelling methods like passive solar, building with natural materials, composting toilets, and grey water systems. If you have some some basic carpentry experience, we would love your help constructing the platforms and yurts!

Got Skills? 
If you have experience in the following areas, we’d love to have your help on these DIY projects we’re working on:

• Tree Work
• Carpentry
• Solar Panel Installation
• Electricity
• Septic Tank Installation
• Tractors
• Earth Moving
• Asphalt and Gravel
• Trail Building

Thank you so much for your interest in volunteering! To stay posted on our volunteer activities, sign up here. We’ll send you more information about what to expect from week to week, and we’ll remind you to wear closed toed shoes, and to bring a hat, sunscreen, water, and to pack a lunch. 

We can’t wait to see you at Terra Cultura!