Standing atop the damp soil of City Farm San Luis Obispo in the rain as birds chirp and Tucker the sheep eyes the fresh head of lettuce in your hand, you’d have no idea that the ground below you is also squirming with life.
Nonprofit City Farm SLO manages 19 acres of the Calle Joaquin Reserve, located just off Highway 101 between SLO Ranch Farms and Marketplace and Los Osos Valley Road. Subleasing 15 acres to local farmers, City Farm SLO maintains 4 acres of the land itself, growing food locals can take home to the refrigerator or see on their plates when out for a meal.
As organic food becomes a societal priority, Executive Director Kayla Rutland said City Farm SLO takes it one step further when it comes to the farm’s fresh produce.
While City Farm SLO’s produce is all organic, meaning it doesn’t use synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, Rutland said the farm also practices regenerative farming—a method that focuses on the health of the soil rather than just on the extracting of food.
“Our main goal in our farming is to improve the health of the soil and ecosystem over time, so that as we farm, the longer we farm, the healthier our soils become, the healthier our ecosystem above ground becomes,” she said. “We want to make sure that this land can sustain producing food long, long, long into the future, and actually get more productive over time.”
Typically, once farmers extract the produce, the ground is tilled or turned over after each crop. And while Rutland said tilling can be a useful practice, the consequences outweigh the benefits.
“Tilling releases carbon into the atmosphere that was stored in the soil. It also can increase erosion,” she said.
Instead, City Farm SLO lightly overturns its soil with a broad fork, creating small holes for water and air. Then, the farmers lay compost over top.
“Over time, that organic matter breaks down into the native soil, which is a really heavy clay, and over time, our organic matter really increases, which allows the soil to hold water and also nutrients,” she said. “So, we don’t need to water as much. It’s more resilient to drought, and it also is able to hold more nutrients in it.”
According to Rutland, tilling ruins the microorganisms that settled in the soil, making the soil more unstable.
“The soil is alive with tons of microbiology, since we’re not turning it over, we’re allowing those communities of microbiology to thrive,” she said. “Imagine a city underground. If you till it, you flip that city upside down and destroy it. And so, by not doing that, then the health of the microbes underground can stay more stable, and then they’re more efficiently able to feed the plants.”
And with healthy plants comes healthy people, Rutland said.
City Farm SLO enhances soil stability and teaches kids how stability and hard work can better their lives. With its three educational programs, Rutland said the organization’s overall mission is to empower youth through farm-based education.
The nonprofit offers on-site experiences for students from kindergarten to high school and those with disabilities. Students come to the farm to learn about pollination, plants, and soil science. Along the way, they meet the farm’s animals and help maintain gardens.
“It’s really fun to work with students who haven’t really done much physical work before, because they get to see the tangible impact, impacts of hard work. And many people aren’t familiar with that. It’s kind of a new thing for a lot of our young people,” she said. “So, it’s really empowering for them to be here on the farm and to do hard work and then see what it produces.”
Rutland said that working hard for your own food influences eating behavior as well, and she has seen it with the kids.
“Every time I laugh so hard because … every time on our field trips we do tasting with our students, and every single kid wants seconds of raw kale, and their parents don’t believe us. I’m like, I swear they want seconds, and they go home, and they ask for it too. So, it definitely influences healthy behaviors to see where food comes from.” Δ
Staff Writer Libbey Hanson is still awwing over Tucker the adorable sheep. Send your best sheep pun to lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Health & Wellness 2025.