FARMstead ED turns 10, and growing…
by Katy Budge
FARMstead ED is celebrating its 10th year of connecting local farmers and ranchers with both tourists and townies. Founded by county native Lynette Sonne, the organization promotes on-site, hands-on experiences to educate locals and visitors alike about the often-overlooked importance of agriculture.
As early as 2005, Sonne had begun working with county agricultural producers to help raise awareness about locally grown and locally made. But her “a-ha moment” for FARMstead ED came in 2014 while horseback riding on a friend’s ranch. “I realized that I was already telling people about our wonderful SLO County products and buying them for gifts, so why not bring it to a bigger audience?” she recalled.
Though she didn’t realize it at the time, Sonne was essentially describing “agritourism.” The U.S. Department of Agriculture describes this as “a form of commercial enterprise that links agricultural production and/or processing with tourism to attract visitors onto a farm, ranch, or other agricultural business for the purposes of entertaining or educating the visitors while generating income for the farm, ranch, or business owner.”
In other words, get the word out about local farms and ranches so that an interested public can help them survive financially. “Agritourism isn’t a fad,” Sonne said. “It’s here to stay, and it’s become an important source of revenue for farms and ranches, many of which aren’t fully sustainable without agritourism to bridge the financial gap of small family farming.” READ MORE HERE
Milestones, Stories and Building Legacies
It all started in 2005, then in 2014, FARMstead ED was born.
While FARMstead ED’s first official workshop was June of 2014 about Raising Happy Healthy Chickens, ED really started at Fair Oaks Ranch… From riding the ranch, becoming fast friends to gathering at the kitchen table once a week to review the business side of the cattle biz, I was surrounded, exposed and introduced to good people, and yes, really good things to eat!
It all started with a few believers: Fair Oaks Ranch, Bill & Barbara Spencer’s Windrose Farm, TheraBee Honey / Life Elements, Talley Farms, J&R Meats, The Groves on 41, Brigit Binns, Nature’s Touch, and then WOW…the word got out!
read more about what's growin' on at FARMstead ED on the
SLO CO Farm Trail HERE