An effort has sprouted in the San Geronimo Valley to convert part of the bygone golf course’s 157-acre property into farmland, returning the property to its agricultural roots, regenerating soil stripped by pesticide use and providing mentorship opportunities to young farmers.
A committee of agriculture and sustainability advocates, largely from the valley, has devised a proposal that seeks to trade fairways for row crops. Their plan would utilize regenerative farming practices to restore the soil after years of chemical use, increase the amount of acreage used for growing produce in the county and offer an incubator for young farmers to develop their operations.
“The process is important,” Wendi Kallins, a Forest Knolls resident leading the effort, said of the property’s future. “Right now there are winners and losers, and we have to get to a point where we’re all winners. We want to make sure we have a seat at the table.”
An official proposal has yet to be submitted to the Board of Supervisors, but committee members have met with Parks and Open Space Staff and Supervisor Dennis Rodoni to begin promulgating their idea.
About 10 members are involved in the effort, including Diane Matthew, who owns Mt. Barnabe Farm in Lagunitas, and Jesse Kuhn, who founded Marin Roots Farm west of Petaluma. The committee is currently focused on broadcasting its effort, soliciting public opinion and boosting involvement.
The vacant golf course has set off a flurry of activity this month as the county begins to envision its intentions for the property, a process that will include public meetings. A guiding objective is to restore the property’s streams and waterways to better serve wildlife.
This week, the Board of Supervisors approved an agreement that allows county parks to manage the property during The Trust for Public Land’s ownership. The parks department, besides searching for an interim golf course operator, is soliciting grants to help cover the property’s $8.85-million price tag.
As of this week, the only grant so far secured is a $150,000 check from the California Coastal Conservancy specifically for use in public outreach. (The county has established an online newsletter for distributing updates; you can sign up at mailchi.mp/marincounty/sangeronimovalley.)
Carl Somers, chief of planning and the acquisition program manager for county parks, said he’s aware of growing concern over the possibility that grants will be conditioned on certain uses, such as for conservation. He shrugged off the fears.
“Yes, the objective is to increase the flow of water in streams, especially in situations that are going to benefit wildlife,” he said. “The muddle is there’s a difference between a grant program having an objective and a grant program excluding any other purposes or use on the property the money is going to touch.”
He added that the golf course is currently permitted to divert 20 acre-feet of water per year from Larsen Creek. If the county were to receive a grant from the California Wildlife Conservation Board—for which an application has been submitted—that amount could be conditioned on increasing creek flows, stymieing possible agriculture uses that require additional flows for irrigation.
The committee, for its part, says there are better ways to improve the property.
“We want to use this regenerative farming model to restore the property’s health and provide food for the community,” Ms. Kallins said. “There are only 300 acres of row crops in Marin and that’s mostly wine. Even by adding this to it, we still won’t be near food security, but we’d be heading into the right direction.”
The committee says regenerative farming packs the soil with millions of microbes that break down and clean it. They say the soil on the flatlands adjacent to Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is a rare and rich form that’s ideal for growing.
“It’s what small organic farmers do every day: build humus in the soil which retains water and creates loose, tilled soil,” Ms. Matthew said. “You can do this by adding compost, which is loaded with microbes, and growing cover crops to get fiber available to the microbes. At the golf course, which has undergone tons of herbicides and pesticides, organic farming is the ideal way to regenerate the soil and clean it up. It’s just the obvious thing to do.”
Jean Berensmeier, founder of the San Geronimo Valley Planning Group, recalled other campaigns to bring farming to the valley in the ’60s and described lasting support for the movement.
“What these people are proposing is nothing new,” she said. “Given the situation nationally and internationally, we really need to look for food resources near where we live.”
Ms. Matthew said locals remember dairying and grazing operations on the property during the ’30s and ’40s. She said the effort is not only an attempt to turn back to the valley’s agriculture roots, but also to look ahead to the future.
“It would be a place where young farmers can be mentored,” she said. “There are models in Vermont where everyone gets five acres, with common areas to wash vegetables and then have a place to sell their produce. That’s what we’re going for.”
Mr. Kuhn, as part of a younger generation of farmers, envisions a patchwork of plots divvyed up between dozens of farmers. “I’d like to see the big block next to the water treatment plant turned into a farm and the back nine into an open park,” he said. “That being said, I’d love to see the whole thing be a farm.”