Land Stewardship by Claude Mahmood
From growing up in Northern Minnesota woods to climbing the 14,000ft peaks in Colorado I learned about wilderness and how important the wilderness is. However, it wasn't until I actually studied agriculture at Evergreen that I began to understand how much we as a people have forgotten how to be stewards of the land.
Today most farms only grow one or two crops and incorporate chemicals that not only kill weeds and insects but the microbes in the soil as well.

There are more living organisms in a handful of healthy soil then the human population of Seattle. It is these organisms that keep plants healthy and strong. Therefore caring for and building soil is a key component to a healthy land and food for all life.

My job (and hopefully yours as well) in this life is to be a steward of the land by caring for and maintaining the health of the land where ever I live as a legacy of those who came before me, those that are here now and for all those that will maintain the land after me.

"I am talking about the idea that as many as possible should share in the ownership of the land and thus be bound to it by economic interest, by the investment of love and work, by family loyalty, by memory and tradition." - Wendell Berry The Unsettling of America

Where is Greenman's Garden and who are the Farmers?
We have been blessed with the opportunity to farm at Loertscher Farm or as it has most recently been known as Giggling Goat Gardens. Claude worked with Katrinka Hibler (the grand daughter of Hartley Loertscher, who first purchased the land in the 1940's) as an intern from The Evergreen State College on the farm during 2007, but Katrinka decided to go back to school in the fall of 2007.

Claude then decided after a lot of thought that it only makes sense to continue working there as a steward of the land, for the land, for the family and for the community.

In 2010 Corinne Boyer (with her son Samuel) and Claude Mahmood will be living and working at the farm. Corinne is an Herbalist who has a passion for both wildcrafting and farming. Corinne and Claude are partners and will be working together to bring the best quality food and plant medicine to the local community of Shelton and the surrounding areas. We hope to have educational opportunities at the farm in the years to come. Please contact us for more information about educational tours and upcoming classes by Corinne Boyer, Herbal Educator.