September 2009 Marin Agricultural Land Trust Newsletter

Time for Lunch

Monday, September 7

Last year's Slow Food Nation event in San Francisco culminated in a Labor Day potluck meal shared on tables that snaked
through Dolores Park. This year Slow Food chapters will organize communal meals in public spaces on Monday, September 7, as
part of a national day of action to encourage Congress to invest in children's health by providing healthy food in schools. Slow
Food's ultimate goal? Influencing the Child Nutrition Act, the 40-year-old bill which Congress will reauthorize later this year. In
Marin, the event takes place at Boyle Park in Mill Valley on Monday, September 7, from 3-5 P.M. RSVP to
millvalleyeatin@gmail.com.
Read more.

Marin Organic is raising "lunch money" for its organic school lunch and gleaning program on September 17 and 19 in partnership
with Marin restaurants, grocery stores, and food purveyors. Read more.

MALT applauds both of these efforts to bring healthy, local food into our shools.

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Photo by Paige Green

Have you heard the moos?

Spaletta Dairy protected by MALT easement

Marin Agricultural Land Trust has purchased an agricultural conservation easement on the Spaletta family's 772-acre Cypress
Lane Ranch. Prominently located on Point Reyes-Petaluma Road at its intersection with Novato Boulevard, the property becomes
part of a greenbelt of protected historic farmland on the road leading to Petaluma.
Because the ranch is just a short commute distance from Petaluma and central Marin, it might have been targeted by a developer
for estate ranchettes which are in high demand in western Marin County. Under the MALT easement, the development rights have
been extinguished, and the land can never be subdivided; the ranch is permanently protected for agricultural use. Read more.

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Photo by Paige Green

The Last Farmer?

David Mas Masumoto
Saturday, September 5
David Mas Masumoto, author of Epitaph for a Peach will read from his new book Wisdom of the
Last Farmer: Harvesting Legacy from the Land. Last spring, Mas chaired the Geography of
Hope conference co-sponsored by MALT. Known for the passion with which he grows organic
peaches, Mas weaves together stories of family and farming in this latest book, a work that is
part memoir and part life instruction. A book signing follows the main presentation which is
sponsored by Point Reyes Books and Marin Organic and begins at 7 P.M. at Toby's Feed Barn
in Point Reyes Station. FREE.

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Photo by Elisabeth Ptak, taken at the harvest of adopted Elberta peach trees on August 8 at the Masumoto Family Farm

Harvest, Plant, Learn, Eat

September 12
Have you gotten the gardening bug? Do you want to know more? College of Marin's new
teaching farm on the Indian Valley campus in Ignacio is the place to be this month when Wendy
Johnson, Green Gulch farm's founder, author of Gardening at the Dragon's Gate, and teacher
extraordinaire gives an introduction to winter gardening. Learn about cover crops, dividing
perennials, planting bulbs, composting, and much more, then pick greens for a salad to share.
Cost: $30 MALT members/$40 non-members. Preregistration required.

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Photo by Paige Green

Locavore,
Locavolt,
Localand
September 13
West Marin has led the way in farmland conservation and organic farming. Author Peter Asmus thinks
energy production may be next. His new book is Introduction to Energy in California. Join him and
MALT's Stewardship Director Patricia Hickey for a discussion of climate change, sustainability, and
farmland's potential as a solution to global warming. We'll be touring alternative energy options at the
McEvoy Ranch, too, and the day wouldn't be complete without a taste of some local delicacies. It's a
full afternoon, so sign up now. Cost: $35 MALT members/$45 non-members. Preregistration required.

Listen to Peter Asmus

California's Energy Fads
California is known for fads, and sometimes those fads have been new energy futures like nuclear
power. Peter Asmus wonders if alternative, green energy is next.

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Tour UK Private Gardens &
Organic Farms & Support MALT
June 15-25, 2010
Private Gardens. Historic Homes. Artistic Haunts. Inverness
resident Paul Coopersmith designs tours to these locales and
others for his Coopersmith's One-of-a-Kind Tours. "But I'm not
a tour type myself," he says. Perhaps this is why, when he
started his business in 1984, he decided to create a special
kind of experience for travellers. "I think of them as the un-tours," he says.

Now you can go on one of Paul's unique, small-group travel outings and support MALT at the same time. "Private Gardens &
Organic Family Farms of Cumbria & the Cotswolds" is booking now for what is certain to be an exceptional "un-tour" in June 2010.
Among the many highlights is a visit to the most famous of all organic venues: Prince Charles' Duchy Home Farm in
Gloucestershire.

Price includes a $250 tax-deductible donation to MALT, to be generously matched by Coopersmith's. Get all the details here, then
reserve your spot while there's still room.

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Photo of Gresgarth Hall courtesy Coopersmith One-of-a-Kind Tours

Click to preserve farmland (and trees!)

Thank you to all our current members for your past support! September is the month we commence our annual membership
renewal campaign for the next calendar year. We invite you to renew your commitment and connection to MALT today online, and
help us save postage, trees, and farmland.

Not a MALT member yet? You can also join at www.malt.org. We love to hear from our members! Contact Deborah White, Annual
Giving Officer, at dwhite@malt.org if you have questions about your membership.

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