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When John Wick and Peggy Rathmann moved to their 539 acre ranch in 1998, their intention was to find a way to ranch that cared for the environment and nurtured the wild lands. Today, they are doing just that. Rotational grazing, bailing silage, preserving native bunch grasses and building top soil with their biodiesel tractors are all just part of a thrilling day on the farm for Peggy and John. High on their list of priorities is their dedication to reversing the worldwide trend of global warming by building the topsoil on their property and using their extensive grasslands as a means of sequestering carbon; in fact, Nicasio Native Grass Ranch was previously known as Carbon Farm. As part of the project, they are working with scientists to test their site as well as others to calculate the amount of carbon their grasslands are currently holding. In addition, their devotion to native plants is impressive. Just mention the word Danthonia to Peggy and her eyes light up and the native grass ecology lesson begins. The California oat grass stores it seeds in the stems of the plant and the plant itself can live for up to 300 years. Plus, cows just love it. Their other brainstorm: wondering if a u-pick wild foods farm would take off... they are currently offering local hazelnuts, bay nuts and all the gophers you can catch.
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