On January 13, Program Coordinator Katherine Flink presented an online overview of the School of Adaptive Agriculture’s 2026 Farm School Program.
The Farm School Program is located on the 5,000 acre historic Ridgewood Ranch in Willits, Mendocino County, California, where sustainable, local agriculture is a way of life. The SAA was founded in 2013 by the California State Granges. In addition to the yearly Farm School, the SAA offers a workshop series, a farm incubator program, and an artist residency program.
The SAA 13-Week Farm School is a wide-ranging introduction to methods developed and adapted for ecologically informed production of vegetables, fruits and grains, herbs and livestock. (From the School of Adaptive Agriculture Website)
The weekly schedule consists of two days of classes, one day for field trips to local farms, and two days of paid employment at a local farm or ranch. The students have weekends off to explore the area.
Placements vary for the two days of paid work. Students may work on market farms, homesteads, sheep ranching, grain production, orcharding, herbal medicine making, mushroom growing, and more. Students learn to use power tools, farm equipment and basic plumbing and carpentry.
Students live in 10 x 12 foot cabins containing beds, desks, and dressers, with two outdoor showers. Meals are prepared in a communal kitchen. Cooking and cleaning chores are shared by all.
Students are invited to attend the Ridgewood Ranch community dinners on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, where they can network with the other ranch residents.
Tuition is $4,500, including meals and housing. Some scholarships are available, but are not guaranteed. Tuition may be paid in installments. Students will earn money from their twice weekly jobs on outside farms, that is 144 hours of paid work during the 13 weeks at $16.50 per hour, for a total of $2,376.
A Capstone program running through November 1 offers more intensive or continuing study for students who want to continue past August 28.
There are typically 5 to 10 students in each class, coming from across the US and other countries.
It’s best to have a car, as this is a rural area without much public transportation, although there have been students in the past who managed without a car. Bikes are useful to ride around the ranch.
Farm School alumni have gone on to various types of farming, including sheep, pig, and dairy farming, flower, plant, and spice farms. Some alumni have continued their formal agricultural education at universities. Hatake Farm Kitchen in Willits is a take-out dining spot run by a Farm School graduate, who offers organic Japanese food. Another grad started Women with Bows which prepares food from indigenous tribal ingredients. Katherine Flink’s Black Dog Farm prepares Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) boxes, even giving some away free to those in need.
Flink said, “Farm school offers people the opportunity to change their lives — to find meaningful work and relationships that support our earth and communities.”
The 2026 term runs from June 1 to August 28. See the School of Adaptive Agriculture website for complete details.
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