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SWEET HOME RANCH
Environment: Valley, farm Activities: annual Harvest Festival: photography, produce tasting, visiting farm Site Stewards: Paul and Ruth Buxman (559-260-1958, [email protected]), Sequoia Riverlands Trust (SRT), 559-738-0211 Links: Paul Buxman - Arts Visalia Visual Arts Center; https://sequoiariverlands.org/ Open: annually, on the two days following Thanksgiving (9-5:00 on Friday, 9-4:00 on Saturday) Directions: Map and directions are at the bottom of this page. |
"I'd put everything I have under easement if there were money for it." -- Jim Moore
“All the natural ingredients were in place for intensive agriculture. The snow accumulated in the Sierra Nevada; the narrow river canyons that drained the mountains were located in the foothills where dams and reservoirs could be easily constructed; the valley floor was relatively flat and had the proper gradient for canals; and there was plenty of sun. The landscape would be altered – transformed to a greater extent than any similar place on earth – but the elemental factors remained in place and determined what occurred there.” -- Philip L. Fradkin
“People in cities may forget the soil for as long as a hundred years, but Mother Nature’s memory is long and she will not let them forget indefinitely.” – Henry Cantwell Wallace
“Before we approve another kind of industry on top of farmland, let’s think – What will be our legacy? It will be that we are the fruit basket, the bread basket, we are the milk carton, we are the raisin capital. Let’s be what we were intended to be. This San Joaquin Valley is like no other place on earth.” -- Paul Buxman
“Farmland is going to be the most important and most beautiful thing that we preserve in this country. We have National Parks, National Forests. Why not National Farms?” -- Paul Buxman
“I just think all farms could be like this, right here in Tulare County. ‘Tulare County: known for its small family farms and community involvement.’ You know, why not?” -- Paul Buxman
Photos for this article by: John Greening, Shirley Kirkpatrick, and Laurie Schwaller; and courtesy of Ruth Buxman, Andrew Shinn, and Robbie Sigona
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History:
Farmland Forever: the Story of Sweet Home Ranch by Shirley Kirkpatrick Paul and Ruth Buxman’s Sweet Home Ranch will remain forever in farming. And that’s just the way they want it. In fact, that’s what they stipulated when they traded the development rights on their 40 acre farm east of Kingsburg for one of the first two farmland conservation easements in Tulare County. The other is held by close neighbor and friend Jim Moore. The easements were facilitated by Sequoia Riverlands Trust in 2009 with funding to buy the farmers’ development rights coming from Tulare County’s Measure R road improvement tax fund. As part of the county’s project to widen the Visalia/Dinuba highway (Road 80), Cal Trans stipulated that the farmland being eaten up by the widening must be mitigated by placing farmland conservation easements on comparable prime agricultural land. In addition to being a farmer, Paul Buxman is also an artist, musician, teacher, mentor, rural philosopher and visionary. He was eager to save his farm from the threat of urbanization as new subdivisions leap-frogged across the fertile Kings River plain toward his property. His son, Wyeth, the fourth generation of Buxmans at Sweet Home Ranch, is also greatly relieved. He didn’t think he could continue the family’s farming tradition if faced with the traffic, dust and noise generated by a population explosion nearby. Paul points to an amazing fact when he considers why he wants to preserve farmland. “A little more than one percent of the earth’s surface is actually farmable. That’s it. Only that one percent enables us to survive. I don’t think people realize that. When you remove arable land and put it into something non-productive - at least in the way of producing food and fiber – to bring it back into some kind of agrarian use is a massive undertaking,” he said. He and his neighbors live and work in an area they call the Golden Triangle of farmland. “Great water, great fertility, great location, great weather – and we’re trying to draw lines of farmland forever.” Paul understands completely the current trends in agriculture nationwide: (1) the average age of farmers is increasing as fewer young people choose to return to the family’s farm, and (2) farms are getting larger to take advantage of the economies of scale. Paul and like-minded small farmers are not only vested in farming as a livelihood, but they see it as a way of life – a place to raise their children and teach them about working and living with nature – “cultured nature, agriculture,” in Paul’s words. They believe land would be taken care of better for a longer period of time if children were introduced to it early, so farming is perpetuated. To express those concepts Paul started something called Celebration of the Small Family Farm. He formed a group of farmers called California Clean Growers (CCG). Their goal is to farm responsibly and win the hearts of urban people. California Clean Growers became known for making their farms and homes accessible to visitors, for conserving fertility of the soil and water through the practice of Integrated Pest Management (IPM) and for marketing their products with the CCG backing. Paul and Ruth practice what they preach. Every year they set aside a portion of Sweet Home Ranch to give young people the experience of growing a crop. Through their church, the Buxmans are introduced to at-risk youth, who are invited to participate. Given tools and seeds for planting, the teens began with growing food items they could easily sell: watermelons, corn, and other favorites. “The kids had to grow it, tend it, weed it, harvest it and sell it,” said Paul. They also learned to cook it and eat it. And they profited from it. With the earnings, Paul and Ruth began taking the youth on overnight trips to the nearby national parks – places the youngsters had never seen. “So, in this case,” said Paul, “farmland is being used as a way of gang prevention, a way of intervening in young people’s lives … and changing their lives for the better, we hope.” When not cultivating, irrigating, pruning, and taking care of his farm, Paul finds time for his other passion – art. A trained and noted painter of the Plein Air impressionistic style made famous during the Arts and Crafts era, Paul doesn’t have to travel far for his inspiration. He finds it in nature at his and nearby ranches and farms. He paints what he sees and what he understands – even the flow of water through the weir of an irrigation ditch is made beautiful with his choice of vibrant colors, shadows and depth. Follow his art story on the internet at www.paulbuxman.com. To share the beauty and the bounty of Sweet Home Ranch and nearby farms, Paul and Ruth host a harvest festival every year on the two days following Thanksgiving, inviting their neighbors and other small farmers to participate. The public is invited to enjoy the art show and tasting of locally handcrafted foods from 9-5:00 on Friday and 9-4:00 on Saturday at the ranch. Offered for entertainment, amusement and sale are: art cards, fresh fall fruit, trailer rides, locally made wines, 12 kinds of bread, handcrafted cheeses, dried fruit from small family farms, jams, jellies, soaps, infused honey, nuts, and more. Paul says, "Come out and see what we're growing here for you." On land that will be farmland forever. November, 2012 UPDATE: In 2017, Paul and Ruth Buxman sold their beloved Sweet Home Ranch, as the intensive full-time manual labor became too much for them. But, good news: they still live there, they’re still making their famous jam, their Sweet Home traditions will continue, and now the entire ranch is protected by an agricultural easement. Happily, the Buxmans were able to sell the ranch to a wonderful, young and energetic couple, Jordan and Bailey Carlson, who are committed to family farming and live just a half mile west of Sweet Home Ranch. They will retain the ranch name and carry on the traditions of the farm, which are guided by love of environment and neighbor. These traditions are the secret to the award-winning fruit and faithful workers. Meanwhile, the Buxmans have retained a life estate on their house and studio and about a quarter of an acre of trees so that they can keep harvesting fruit and making their jam. Their traditional harvest festival will still be held at the ranch on the two days following Thanksgiving. And, working with Sequoia Riverlands Trust, they executed a lot line adjustment that made their two parcels one, thus securing a conservation easement on the entire 57 acres. Farmland Forever, indeed!
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Directions:
Address: 4399 Avenue 400, Dinuba, CA 93618; east of Kingsburg Latitude/Longitude: 36° 31.054'/W119° 28.5308' 36.517567/119.475514N From Visalia go west to Hwy. 99 North. Take exit 112 from Hwy. 99 onto Sierra Street (Ave. 400) in Kingsburg, CA. Go east on Ave. 400/Hwy. 201 approximately five miles to 4399 Ave. 400 (between Roads 40 and 48), and turn right (south) into the long unpaved driveway. 
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