Support Pie Ranch
Dear Pie Ranch Friends,
Trees have always been central to our work at Pie Ranch as we actualize our dream of weaving together regenerative agriculture with Indigenous stewardship. Not only do we grow trees that provide nourishing food such as apples, pears, citrus, and plums for our Food Hub, Farmstand, and Educational Programs, we also are actively working toward reforesting the hillsides and waterways, prioritizing native trees and plants to take the place of invasive species. Your gift today will help us continue our work in 2024!
But what about Eucalyptus trees?
Here in the ancestral home of the Quiroste Tribe, we think a lot about the ancestors who lovingly tended these lands over millennia. Starting in the 1760’s through today, Spanish, Mexican, and then American colonization nearly destroyed the land and Indigenous people’s way of life. Sometime after 1850, the state government of California encouraged the planting of thousands of acres of Eucalyptus trees with the hope that they would provide fast growing timber for railroad ties, construction, and wind breaks. Bad choice! Not only did the wood warp much to the dismay of hopeful builders, these invasive trees suck up the groundwater, have allelopathic compounds that suppress biodiverse native plants, and contain explosive oils which exacerbated the fires leading to much of the destruction of the forest and area around Pie Ranch. They also drop branches and topple easily. These multi-story trees are extremely costly to remove, require specialized equipment, highly skilled workers, and thousands of dollars per tree to take them down. Your gift will help us finish the removal process of these trees at Pie Ranch!
Turning the destructive into the constructive
The silver lining is the opportunity to transform these destructive trees into something useful and envision what comes next. We’ve taken down hundreds of Eucalyptus trees and turned them into wood chips for our orchards and perennial crops which help to hold moisture in the ground and recycle tree nutrients as they decompose and feed soil fungi. We’ve bucked up stacks of firewood for fueling our brick pizza/pie oven and for our fire circle where program participants gather in the evenings. Other species of trees like Cypress, Cedar, and Douglas firs that sadly came down in the fires are being made into picnic tables and benches by our YouthCorp staff who benefit by gaining carpentry skills. Your gift will support our youth and program participants in building job skills and contributing to positive change on the landscape.
Centering Indigenous knowledge
As there are no known descendants of the Quiroste Tribe, we partner with the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band and Amah Mutsun Land Trust (AMTB/AMLT) who invite other Indigenous peoples and allies to join them in their efforts to steward the land at Pie Ranch. Traditional land stewardship that heals Mother Earth is a spiritual obligation to the Amah Mutsun. The AMLT’s Propagation Project at Pie Ranch’s Cascade Regenerator site serves as a learning center for Tribal members and a valuable regional asset for ecosystem restoration. Tribal members and AMLT staff propagate California native grasses and plants for regional landscape restoration and revegetation projects, and for use by Tribal members, all while training Amah Mutsun Native Stewards in sustainable propagation, greenhouse use, scaling production, and traditional ecological knowledge. We are collaborating with the tribe and land trust on supporting the propagation of native trees and plants to replace the Eucalyptus trees throughout Pie Ranch. Native trees such as Oak, Redwood, Bay, and Buckeye will grow as tall as 20-300 feet high alongside lower story trees and shrubs such as Ceanothus, Toyon, and Fremontodendron, assuring the drawdown of carbon while providing valuable cultural resources for the tribe and tangible lessons in decolonization for all our program participants. Your gift today will help us repair historical wrongs, positively affect climate change, and center Indigenous knowledge.
Building Community
Over the past three years, we’ve been building community through our Eucathons and WeedEm Out events where volunteers come together to help pull out thousands of Eucalyptus saplings that have been invigorated by the fires. The removal will be ongoing as we begin to replace those trees with the native trees mentioned above. These community events are wonderful ways for folks to contribute to land restoration work in a meaningful way, shed loneliness by connecting with others, and learn more about our collective relationship with the Earth. Your gift today assures we’ll have the resources to continue to host such joyful, transformative gatherings.
Thanks to you, we can continue the work of healing our relationships with ourselves, each other, and Earth. Pie Ranch is incredibly grateful for YOUR SUPPORT of our collective future!
In Community,
Nancy Vail
There are SO many ways to SUPPORT Pie Ranch!
Ask your place of employment about corporate matching policies. Many companies will match their employees' philanthropic contributions (sometimes two-to-one: donate $100 and your company could turn that into $300!).
Make a commitment of a monthly donation! This helps us with more consistent support and helps us to stay in touch with you throughout the year.
Ask your financial advisor (or you can ask us!) about stock gifts, estate gifts, or legacy giving so you can plan for your future. Our Donate Stock button is above for your convenience. Just click the green button and follow the instructions by Stock Donator.
Thank you for helping us to effect change in our food system! Pie Ranch is an exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, EIN 26-1631976. Please contact Kelly Muñoz at kelly@pieranch.org for any donation or fundraising questions or comments.
If you would prefer to donate by check, please mail your thoughtful donations to:
Pie Ranch
PO Box 363
Pescadero, CA 94060
Attn: Development Office
Your incredible gift supports our mission to create a more just and healthy food system for all. Join us by donating and making your impact!