At the Paicines Ranch Learning Center, we seek to explore the principles, practices, and possibilities of regenerating our lands, communities, and food system. Life in the soil is at the core of each event we hold--whether it's a workshop for farmers, ranchers and practitioners to dig deep into soil ecology and compost inoculants, or a learning journey that brings together land stewards, funders and non-profits to learn from the land and eachother.
We are exploring and mapping a radically different path forward, and a commitment to educating ourselves. We invite you to join us on this journey and check out our current and past offerings below.
Growing in the Field
Next Up for Events
June 28, 2022
A half-day farmer workshop on how to use sap analysis to grow healthy and highly productive plants.
Learning Journey
SEPTEMBER 2022
Designed for people who have or manage financial resources and want to learn how to integrate regenerative agriculture and its principles into their decision making.
Flash TANGO!
2021 - PRESENT
A high tempo 90-minute version of the wildly spirited Tango virtual convening for the #NoRegrets grantee and investee community to connect, discover and learn.
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In the Words of Participants...
“Groundwork reconnected me with the reasons I originally became involved with the food system, and helped me to see pursuing regenerative agriculture as a career as far more possible and approachable than I really have before.”
- Groundwork Participant
I left the ranch with a sense of possibility and hope. And a list of stuff to get done. And a mind blown. Life ruined. You know.
- Learning Journey Participant
"The course was the closest thing to magic that I’ve experienced on zoom to date.”
- Groundwork Participant
"I am incredibly grateful to all of you who helped to organize and gather such an amazing group of people for such a wonderful interactive program. The interactivity, time on the land (hands in the soil), and for me especially, the time with the farmers were all transformational experiences."
- Health From the Soil Up Participant
"I really enjoyed hearing about the actual examples in the Beautiful Portfolio (and also I love this concept). I met quite a few people that I look forward to collaborating with in the future. I am excited by the idea of being able to leverage our grants and investments through collaboration."
- Learning Journey Participant
“Groundwork inspired me at a time when I really needed new ideas to revitalize my
experience of the food system. I’m so grateful for the connections I was able to make, the
diverse array of subject matter we covered, and the hundreds of vital ideas the program
sent through my mind every single day."
- Groundwork Participant
"Even during the short time I was on the ground in Paicines, I was inspired and energized to push the envelope of our work further. I am grateful to have had the chance to see your team in the context of the ranch—a beautiful landscape brimming with energy and biodiversity. I so appreciated the intentionality of the event—from the values-aligned catering, to the activities in the field, every moment was planned without being rigid."
- Learning Journey Participant
My biggest take away was how important it is to be in community with each other, testing and and iterating upon system design and shaping the words to tell the story of the movement we are building so that we can each take this experience outwards to our communities.
- Learning Journey Participant
"I left with more [than a sense of possibility and hope] -- I left with a sense of optimism that things could get done. And with the folks who were there, I believe we are the folks who CAN get things done."
- Learning Journey Participant
A Look Into the Archives
MAY 2022
A two day farmer workshop with John Kempf on the principles and science of regenerative farming ecosystems that optimize plant performance.
Gathering Fire
APRIL 2022
A residential deep dive into facilitation skills for women leaders in rural communities who find themselves at the center of important and challenging conversations.
Cienega Pitch Day
2021
A virtual gathering for investors and funders to hear a series of quick, energizing pitches by companies in the #NoRegrets portfolio that are working to grow healthy food and community
Groundwork
2020 - PRESENT
This collaborative two-week online course explores the principles, practices, and possibilities of regenerating our lands, communities, and food system.
#NoRegrets TANGO!
2021
A virtual gathering for the #NoRegrets Initiative grantees and investees to spark relationships, discover trusted partners, and root our work in soil.
Vineyard field Day
2021
A workshop for winegrowers on vineyard grazing, high trellis training systems, nutrient monitoring and fertility management.
DTC Bootcamp
2021
An intensive workshop-style program for Cienega Capital portfolio companies to refine and strengthen their direct-to-consumer business models. Participants leave with a working financial model with tools to measure their success, along with an initial marketing plan.
Regenerative Wine Convening
2020
Growing relationships across sectors of the wine industry to share knowledge and dig into a diversity of topics in need of an open exchange forum not found elsewhere in the wine industry.
Women in Ranching
2016-present
Empowering women on the land and celebrating the diversity of our land stewards. Now a program of Western Landowners Alliance.
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Resilience Design Convening
2020
Co-creating a design for a resilient food system that serves the needs of producer-aggregators in the regenerative meat industry.
Shared Gifting: Climate Policy
2019
A participatory grant making gathering of leaders in agriculture and climate policy that gives full decision-making authority of grant funds to grantee participants.
Compost Bootcamp
2019
A workshop with Dr. Christine Jones and Gerry Gillespie to make and apply beneficial seed and soil inoculants using the principles of static pile inoculated compost method developed by Gillespie in Australia.
Health From the Soil Up
2018-2019
A curated group of practitioners and innovators from public health and agriculture to spark dialogue and collaboration between these two fields.
lead with land
2016-2019
A gathering to enable breakthroughs in how land stewards with considerable means work with and reimagine the regenerative power of their land.
Cover Crop Workshop
2019
Dr. Christine Jones, Keith Berns, Ian & Diane Haggerty, and Scott Park led a workshop to explore cover cropping, pasture cropping, no-till dry farming and integrating livestock into cropland.
Women in soil
2019
Bringing together women who center their work around soil, whether as an artist, a scientist, a farmer, or other to create a supportive platform for cross-disciplinary dialogue and shared practice across scientific, artistic, and land-based forms of knowledge.
EcoFarm Field Day
2018-2019
Lifting up voices of forward-thinking farmers, ranchers, scientists, and advocates at the core of the regenerative movement while walking Paicines Ranch to see examples of livestock integrated into cropping systems and observe onsite studies on rangeland ecology.
Real Food Campaign
2018
A global collaboration connecting soil, plant and human health initiated by leaders from the Bionutrient Food Association, Next7, and Our SCI through a comprehensive plan to understand and revitalize our food supply.
rehydrate california
2018
Soil microbiologist and climate scientist Walter Jehne, and educator Didi Pershouse created a multi-stakeholder initiative tapping into the ingenuity of human and natural communities to create conditions in which the soil sponge regenerates, a fully functional water cycle is restored, and more people are involved in asking (and answering) questions about water.
A Glimpse Into Our Events
