Founded in 1977 by Stephen and Gloria Decater, Live Power Community Farm is a 50-acre, solar electric and horse-powered, diversified, certified biodynamic farm. Four acres are devoted to an intensive vegetable garden hosting some 60 varieties of vegetables and herbs. We use a glasshouse and cold frames to propagate vegetable and flower transplants, and grow home orchard fruits and field and forage crops for hay, grain, and pasture. Animal husbandry includes draft horses, dairy and beef cows, feeder pigs, sheep, and laying hens. We butcher and process meat animals, and bake bread in our outdoor, wood-fired brick oven. The farm is located at about 1,400 feet elevation in Round Valley in Mendocino County, California. The valley, with a local population of about 3,000, has the largest Native American reservation in California and is surrounded by the Eel River and the Mendocino National Forest. Local agriculture includes cattle and hay raising and small organic herb and fruit growing. It is hot and dry during the summer, with winter rains from November to March.
