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Marin County - California

  • Marin County Chapter
  • About Us
    • About Dr. Weston A. Price
    • Traditional Diets
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    • Past Events
      • 2022
        • August 7, 2022: Food Exchange and Potluck
        • June 4, 2022: The Immune System
        • May 7, 2022: Be Love Farm Tour
        • February 26, 2022: Something Ain’t Right Documentary
        • January 8, 2022: Taming Anxiety with Nutrition
      • 2021
        • October 30, 2021: Nut-N-Other Farms
        • August 21, 2021: Yemaya Seaweed Company
        • July 10, 2021: Bannister Oak Farms
        • May 29, 2021: Desi Milk
        • May 15, 2021: Foraging for Food and Medicine Walk
        • April 12, 2021: All About Fasting
      • 2020
        • December 4, 2020: Freedom From Anxiety
        • November 7, 2020: The Root Cause Protocol
        • September 10, 2020: Breathe Easier: Smoke Remedies
        • August 23, 2020: Sauerkraut at Home
        • July 27, 2020: Being a Savvy Shopper: Avoiding Refined Foods & Ingredients
        • June 16, 2020: The Truth Behind Labels: What Goes IN, ON & SURROUNDS Us
      • 2019
        • May 26, 2019: Green Gulch Farm
        • February 23, 2019: Small Animal Naturopathy
        • January 27, 2019: Backyard Farmer
      • 2018
        • September 16, 2018: Mini Traditional Food Fair and Potluck
        • April 29, 2018: SoMar Farms
        • February 24, 2018: Bay Area WAPF Mixer
      • 2017
        • December 3, 2017: Food, Mood and Fermentation
        • November 10-13, 2017: Pearls from the 2017 Wise Traditions Conference
        • October 8, 2017: AppleGarden Farm Tour
        • September 17, 2017: Dr. Cowan’s Garden
        • September 2, 2017: Fermentation Festival in Petaluma
        • August 20, 2017: Apple + Almond Harvest Party
        • July 22, 2017: Nutrient-Dense Foods Tasting
      • 2016
        • November 11-14, 2016: Pearls from the 2016 Wise Traditions Conference
        • October 23, 2016: Raw Paleo
        • June 11, 2016: Backyard Chickens
        • May 26, 2016: All About Kombucha
        • April 16, 2016: Wireless Devices – Health Dangers & Solutions
        • April 2, 2016: Natural Healing with Essential Oils
        • March 6, 2016: Live Blood Microscopy: What Does It Reveal about Our Health?
        • February 20, 2016: All About Bone Broth
        • January 5, 2016: To Be…Or Not To Be…Gluten-Free?
      • 2015
        • December 6, 2015: Holiday Party and Food Trade
        • November 22, 2015: Turmeric Kraut Demo with Trish Carty
        • November 12-16, 2015: Pearls from the 2015 Wise Traditions Conference
        • October 16-18, 2015: Bioneers Conference
        • September 5, 2015: Apple Harvest & Processing Party
        • August 8, 2015: Visit Amy’s Homestead
        • July 12, 2015: Stemple Creek Ranch Tour
        • June 25, 2015: Electromagnetic Fields
        • May 20, 2015: Vaccines: Movie and Panel Discussion
        • April 12, 2015: Fluoride in the Water
        • March 29, 2015: Marcey Shapiro, MD
        • March 8, 2015: Nicolette Hahn Niman, author of “Defending Beef”
        • February 26, 2015: Dennis Dierks of Paradise Family Produce
        • January 21, 2015: Muscle Testing with Srinika Narayan (SF event)
        • January 15, 2015: Homeoprophylaxis with Deborah Landowne
      • 2014
        • December 5, 2014: Aaron Gilliam of Thistle Meats
        • November 23, 2014: Miso tasting with the San Francisco Chapter
        • November 16, 2014: Probiotic Soda Workshop with Kim Ireland
        • November 6-10, 2014: Pearls from the 2014 Wise Traditions Conference
        • October 18, 2014: Doug Stonebreaker of Prather Ranch Meat Company
        • September 29, 2014: Julia Ross Speaking on Depression
        • July 27, 2014: Iodine and Your Health with Jerome Chambless
        • June 15, 2014: Father’s Day Farm Tour @ WHOA Farm
        • May 10, 2014: Awareness Through Movement with Susan Hammond
        • March 29, 2014: Holistic Dental Health with Rupam Henry
        • February 23, 2014: Energy Medicine with Connie Prodromou
        • January 19, 2014: Dessert Potluck
      • 2013
        • December 15, 2013: Pearls from the 2013 Wise Traditions Conference
        • November 2, 2013: Primal Posture with Abeja Hummel
        • October 17, 2013: Personal Stories
        • September 26, 2013: Detoxification with Maureen Donohoe
        • July 20, 2013: Salmon Creek Ranch Tour
        • July 13, 2013: Indian Valley College Organic Farm
        • June 30, 2013: “Get To Know Your Farmers’ Market” tour
        • May 9, 2013: Removing the “Obstacles to Cure” with Dr. Louisa Williams
        • April 7, 2013: Personal Stories
        • Feb 21, 2013: Tim Wightman
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      • Recipe: How To Render Fat
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February 26, 2015: Dennis Dierks of Paradise Family Produce

Dennis Dierks We had a delicious potluck dinner with a great variety of foods ~ beet salad, butternut squash soup, green lentil curry with lentil chips, pumpkin muffins, sausage stew, green salad with miso dressing, coconut water kefir, and a yummy chocolate treat!

Dennis grows delicious vibrant produce that he sells at the Marin farmers markets and he is a talented artist.

He grew up in Idaho and New Mexico and wasn’t trained as a farmer although he worked on farms during the summers when he was young. His initial impression of farming wasn’t positive because he worked on very large farms and remembers them spraying chemicals when he was working in the fields.

After he moved to California he worked as an artist for a publishing company illustrating books. He didn’t enjoy living in the city so he moved to Bolinas with some friends. He and a core community of friends put together a land trust where the land couldn’t be sold or divided. None of them had farmed before so he and his wife started growing leeks on a small patch of land. He’s now been farming for 40 years and it’s been a long learning process ever since.

He’s learned that soil is a living thing. It’s not just a medium to plant in. The microbial life is key to everything so that is his main focus. Every winter he plants cover crops (legumes and oats) or “green manure” to feed the microorganisms. He said that he can grow more nitrogen than he can truck into the farm. 98% of the nutrients he uses come from within 5 miles of his farm.

He’s been learning a system from a gentleman from the Philippines. It was developed so small farmers in third world countries could produce their own nutrient cycles. It’s another approach to the soil where nutrients are extracted using fermentation and made more digestible for the plants. He ferments nettles, comfrey, horsetail, kelp, compost tea and fish byproducts and applies the microbial and nutrient-rich liquids to his growing plants. The horsetail, for example, is high in silica. The fermented horsetail provides easily absorbable silica, which helps the plant cell wall be strong so they are more resistant to bugs. Lactose is another very important nutrient that he collects from the environment using rice, water and milk. The lactose, when sprayed on the plants, keeps the pores of the plants open longer so they absorb more nutrients.

The farm has an apprentice program where young people come to learn farming.

He is fascinated by intact indigenous cultures and likes to travel to Mexico, Guatemala and Panama. He brought several beautiful paintings he painted to share with us. He said that many of these cultures are losing their farming wisdom and practices very quickly, which is a tragedy. A number of young people who he met in Central America have visited his farm and traded farming knowledge.

He had the opportunity to visit Hopi land just last week and was honored to witness a sacred kachina ceremony. It was a water and farming ceremony, a giving ceremony where they had reverence for the land. He said they were so generous despite the fact they had so little.

By Karen Hamilton-Roth

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