Mission Statement
Aurora Farms is a diverse poly-culture farm dedicated to education and sustainability through time tested farming practices and production in fruit trees, row crops and vegetables, holistic pasture and livestock management practices, and the creation of products from those first source agricultural endeavors. We are in Central California, sell to local markets in these areas, and are dedicated to educating new farmers across the globe.
Currently we are raising bu
ffalo, citrus and herbs while developing our educational and product components.
Even while we are currently farming away, our goal is to acquire a very large parcel of land that would accommodate all the farming operations (instead of in multiple owned or leased situations), an education institute, accommodations for interns and work study folks, commercial kitchen, annual artists in residence series, and eventually a healing center encompassing first source food and healthy eating, yoga/movement studio, and watsu/aquatic therapies. Think Esalen meets Stone Barns Center.
Our Beginning
Lori Ann has been involved with agriculture and livestock from a very young age with her family and community in the Garden State of New Jersey. Whether it was picking the family’s apples and cherries, hunting for pheasants and deer, or preparing and storing food from backyard gardens in Sicily or NJ, it has been her life-long passion and endeavor. Her education as a young adult straddled science and athletics, hands-on holistic spirituality, mastery of many arts, and a deep connection with the natural world (nothing short of a grand book) and started farming in her early 20’s. Fueled by her local mentors and agricultural community, the Foxfire series, works by Berry, Fukuoka, Howard, and Rodale who made this following statement which sums up her core values:
“The concept of “organic” was simple but revolutionary in the post World War II era. Manure, cover crops and crop mixtures were standard practices through World War I, but chemical fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, artificial ingredients, preservatives and additives for taste and appearance in the years since the war rapidly changed agriculture. As J.I. Rodale communicated the idea of creating soil rich in nutrients and free of contaminants, people began to listen and acceptance grew. "Organics is not a fad'" J.I. wrote in 1954. "It has been a long-established practice - much more firmly grounded than the current chemical flair. Present agricultural practices are leading us downhill." --Rodale Institute, rodaleinstitute.org
Lori Ann has raised Angus and Charolaise cattle for grass-fed beef, Guernsey cows for m
ilk and dairy products, Suffolk sheep for grass-fed lamb and wool products (from shearing to felting and everything wool/fiber/art in-between), all types of poultry for meat and egg production, and a variety of goats for milk and cheese. In addition to livestock she has grown a multitude of fruit trees from stone fruits to citrus, vegetable row crops, herbs, seeds for Abundant Life Seed Foundation, fruit trees, grafts and whips, specialty food products, organic garlic and berries, greenhouse crops and flowers, as wells as small and large acreage grains crops, which were custom milled for culinary and animal foods. She has experience with various hay and forage crops, and knowledge of all the traditional and new practices in food arts which complement growing and raising all of your own food: canning and preserving, drying and storing, root cellars, smoking, pickling and curing, and many of the almost forgotten arts- shoemaking, sewing, home tanning and more.
Years ago friends had joined the buffalo producer’s circle: she invested, watched, and learned more about this incredible animal. When the opportunity presented itself for all these aspects to align, it was time to start another farm based on the bison. The working team and institute are gathering like-minded individuals to share and grow a common mission, seeking this mosaic of life; growth, humility, beauty, collaboration and style. Not to mention lots of happy animals, plants, and people, the most amazing meals and food on earth, based on nutrition, health and life-long wellbeing.
