Hester Farm was created by exchange student, Louise Devron from Lyon, France, in fulfillment of her masters thesis in sustainable agriculture. The farm is located on the property of Hester School.
Hester Farm features polyculture row crops, instead of a monoculture farm. At the farm, we grow 75 different food plants. Food is continually harvested and planted year-round.
On the left is a native hedgerow featuring native plants of California. On right is a healthy crop of tree collars, a perennial food plant that can be harvested every day of the year and can live from 5 to 7 years. The value of the hedgerow is that it provides many species of predator insects who manage the native insect population of the hedgerow while they simultaneously manage damaging insects that may be on the food plants.
Closeup of two commodity row crops showing polyculture. In the regenerative farm, soil is never exposed to sunlight, replicating the forest ecology. Regenerative organic agriculture (ROA) utilizes forest ecology to grow food using less resources. The soil is covered with a top of carbon. At Hester, we use aged tree mulch or straw.
