Skip to content

First Rain Farm

 

First Rain Farm has a new home, as do I, Tim Van Wagner. With the generous support of my loving family I have been given the opportunity to develop a 37 acre piece of land just two miles outside Nevada City. After farming for four years at the Wet Hill farm site and Bluebird Farm at the Jacobson Dude Ranch, I’m sad, yet ready to move on to a larger piece of land to move my vision along. I feel a profound sense of appreciation for the owners of those sites, Alan Seim and Dale and Diane Jacobson, with out whom I would not be prepared to undertake a project of this magnitude.  The new farm, previously the “Steber Ranch”, is located at the junction of Rock Creek Rd. and Rector Rd. off Lake Vera/Purdon Roads. This land has an agricultural history dating back to the gold rush when miners from all over the world were flocking to the banks of Rock Creek and Brush Creek (1/4 mile of Brush Creek goes through the farm). Miners in the early days were routinely taking out 60 ounces per week from this area!

With two historic barns, multiple water sources, and a “lay of the land” perfectly suited to the specialties of First Rain Farm, this is a tremendously exciting project for myself and Living Lands. With out skipping a beat, I’ll be up and running this season; growing vegetables for Briarpatch Coop, the Nevada City Farmers Market, heirloom seeds for Sierra Seeds Cooperative, and raising dairy goats, contented to their hearts delight browsing on riparian brush including willows, alder, black berries, wild rose, and lots of grass. I feel blessed for this long-term opportunity and can’t wait to “watch it grow”.
Work has already begun on the land, including essential infrastructure such as irrigation systems, fencing, greenhouses, sheds, and preparing the big barn for the goats’ arrival. I look forward to sharing it with you all this summer during our July Farm Tour!