By Andrew Clinard The Quail Springs’ poultry flock is quite an army – upwards of 100 chickens and 32 ducks. They are crucial to food production, pumping out an impressive amount of eggs and meat. Foraging is their favorite pastime, the chickens race out of their five-star mobile hotel at sunrise and start hunting. This foraging is, however, supplemented with …
Farm and Feast: Recipes from the Hearth of Quail Springs
Anyone who has been to Quail Springs knows how much we love food! In these last weeks we have had a lot of fun learning about culinary traditions from around the world, cooking traditional recipes from Ethiopia, Armenia, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Turkey and Vietnam. We’ve learned a lot about the beauty of other cultures …
An Upbeat Update from the Quail Springs Valley
As we move through the midsummer moons of 2015, evidence is everywhere that Quail Springs is flourishing by more than just a handful of evaluations. We continue to experience some significant additions to and retained earnings from all sectors within the Natural Capital base of Quail Springs. A brief report follows with …
Reflections on Past Courses – PDCID 2015
The Permaculture Design Course for International Development held recently at Quail Springs was a memorable and transformative experience for students, teachers, and the community. We were pleased to welcome students from India, Liberia, Saskatchewan, South Africa, Ireland, and from all over the United States, including …
How-To: Desert Cold Storage
The summer has arrived. Now, if you are looking to create a cold storage, and have a shipping container lying around, this “how-to” might be for you! This method takes advantage of the some serious thermal mass (for instance, 3′ deep in the earth at our site the temperature is a stable 65 degrees), a fancy optional venting …
Third Graders Visit Quail Springs
This May we had the joy of hosting another school group from our area for a 4-day campout and farm week! Two Waldorf Schools joined up and came out together to integrate with our farm team for four days of adventure on the land: Waldorf School of Santa Barbara and the other group from Wishing Well School in …
Wild Foods Feast
Our first WILD Series course of the year kicked-off this May with a beautiful weekend of wild foods, storytelling, music, fire, feasting and more! Blossoms, Greens and Juniper Smoke: Identifying and Cooking with Wild Plants welcomed a full crowd of 40 curious students on a journey into the natural history, botany, culture, harvest …
Quail Springs 10th Birthday – Thank You!
Dear Quail Springs Family, We are sending out an enormous and heart felt thank you to everyone who made the April 8th, Quail Springs 10th Birthday Celebration & Benefit at Soho Restaurant and Music Club for the wonderful evening of food, music, dancing, and community building. Over 200 people attended the Wednesday night event, and 30-plus local businesses, farms, and …
Interview with Jan Smith of Cuyama Mama & The Hot Flashes
What would a bunch of farmers do when the bar 3 miles down the road from their non-profit permaculture farm, Quail Springs, needs a band for their BBQ? They pick a name, make a song list, scrub off most of the dirt, put on their aprons and suspenders, and play music for the people! Cuyama Mama & The Hot Flashes sets range …
Winter Squash = Goat Milk, Eggs, and Soil Building
by Jan Smith, Quail Springs Farm Adviser Our 14 goats browse 450 acres in southern California @ Quail Springs Farm, clearing brush, foraging on a wide variety of high desert shrubs and trees for about 4-5 hours a day. In addition to that the dairy does in milk also eat a high quality organic feed on the stand. For the …