trevordayschool

the local Sutter Creek Farmers Market. It was there that I fell in love with growing food and flowers, and found the way in which my focus on nature could connect with my everyday life: feeding my family and my community with fresh, nutrient-rich produce. And so, I enrolled in the Evergreen State College (in Olympia, WA), and studied ecological agriculture with Dr. Martha Rosemeyer, whose area of expertise also includes food systems. It was only after earning my degree in Agroecology that I truly put my education to use. We moved to Mendocino County and began a nursery business, which grew into a small but successful farm. After three years of leasing land, and five years of farming it, our lease was broken and we made the hard decision to move to New York, where my father owned property. is move was an attempt to find land security, and to avoid being uprooted again. Now, we are two years into creating our current and permanent farm in Upstate New York! Using cutting-edge techniques, we are producing food in a manner that is the most biologically regenerative and thus best at solving our future food and climate challenges. Simply put, we do not till the soil to prepare for a new crop. Extensive scientific research concludes that tillage destroys the soil in many ways, and deposits a blanket of weed seeds on the surface. Further proof comes from a walk into any green space. How does Mother Nature grow massive trees, bushes, and annual plants without tilling? All she does is drop leaf litter, which adds nice mulch that afterwards breaks down into compost. en, new seeds grow each year, and the perennials leaf out, starting a new cycle of organic- matter production, through the photosynthesizing wonder of plant growth. Similarly, we take a tip from the earth: Just cut the old crop down to the soil, add fertilizer and compost, and plant again! e same piece of soil that used to grow small unhealthy vegetables, now grows much larger, healthier plants—meaning, quite simply, that the soil can now sequester more carbon per unit mass than it was previously able. In essence, regenerative agriculture techniques can produce nutrient-dense, organic produce, and combat climate change at the same time. Alternatively, tillage-based agriculture releases fumes from engines and from the soil, which must quickly decompose large amounts of detritus. is creates more volatilization of carbon dioxide, and more nitrous oxide than is preferable. e Day School gave me the balanced education that made it possible for me to succeed with vegetable farming in a whole new way. All of these experiences played their part: the grit of playing soccer in the rain, the careful planning and design work of art, sciences, writing, reading—and most importantly, the talent of faculty to find what most interests a student, and working with that curiosity to help them succeed in their educational pursuits. A focus on diversity of thought, and genuinely catering to those diversities, made it possible for me to discover my life's work as a farmer, despite my urban roots. As did the recognition by e Day School teachers of my unique potential as a lifelong learner and leader who is committed to being a responsible citizen of our planet. Page 45, left: Matthew at age 11; Page 45, middle: L:ike so many hundreds of students before and after him, Matthew found his visits to Putney Farm transformative; Page 45, right: e family in a field of broccoli. From left to right, Oak (born in 2008), Matthew, Rosemary (born in 2012), wife Corinne Hansch, and Sam (born in 2006). All of the children are home schooled; is page, left: Matthew at work in the vegetable garden; is page, right: Matthew is the sixth from the left in the back row of his high school varsity soccer team.

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