Spencer Scott and Nick Schwanz’s queer-run regenerative farm creates community around climate activism.
The queer community has long been at the vanguard of gyration , and nowhere is this sentiment more tactile than a queer - pass regenerative farm in the redwood of Sonoma County . Artists - in - abode wax poetic on climate modification , raw wine feed like the Russian River , and two husband — inspired by thesolarpunk movementwhere art , nature , and technology dwell in concord — are planting seeds of change . And literal seeds , too . Located in thehistorically queer town of Guerneville , a position with its own regenerative history as a log biotic community that was almost entirely mill out of creation in the 20th century , Solar Punk Farmsis a situation that draw close polar topics — like mood change — through the lens of optimism , play , and aphrodisiacal sustainability .
The farm , just a Oliver Stone ’s throw from Armstrong Redwoods State Natural Reserve , was founded in 2020 . Husbands Spencer Scott and Nick Schwanz forge in climate from behind desks but were inspired to get more hands - on with their passions , they scout places where they could make a change , initially looking in Oregon , before whittle their search nearer to their home in San Francisco . “ We create this unsufferable checklist of things we wanted , and we find this incredible smirch in Guerneville that checked all the boxes , ” explain Schwanz . The topographic point , a degraded piece of land once ( over)used as a horse property and handily located in a rum town , present a mature opportunity to impress their climate activism and share it with others .
“ Spencer and I would always talk about how we could engage more people in the regenerative revolution , ” add together Schwanz . “ We were assay to understand what motivate people to require to do more in the first piazza . We blab aboutknowingabout the problem andcaringabout the problem , and that ’s why we wanted to make a space commit to making peoplecareabout climate change . ” That mentality is what led them to solarpunk , a pre - existing social philosophy that , or else of pitting technology and nature against each other , harmonizes the two . “ If you want to move the great unwashed to make a expectant change , you have to tell them what the future looks like and what they ’re running towards , rather than admonish them and have them run aside , ” Schwanz discover . “ This is n’t about coming here and doing work , it ’s about creating fun experiences where being involve in the sustainability mindset feels like an aspirational affair that wewantto do , not this chore that wehaveto do . ”
Courtesy of Solar Punk Farms
With solarpunk as a guiding Inner Light , Schwanz and Scott began their regenerative journey of contribute the filth back to spirit . The first two years of the farm ’s being , which spans 10 acres of redwoods and mixed native forest , Schwanz says it was largely a dirt lot that command a ton of grime regeneration and new infrastructure . This past class was the first time the state was quick enough to receive visitors and emcee demonstration , workshop , fundraisers , and events like theBig West Wine Fest , which draws born winemakers from across northerly California — and upwards of 1,000 attendees . They also offer an creative person - in - residency series , kids ’ programming , and hands - on workdays , wherein 10 - 15 mass come to work on on the farm for a day , double-dyed with happy minute spotlighting local natural wine-coloured ( “ sort of like volunteer days , but a more fun party spin on it , ” Schwanz notes ) .
At the heart of it all is the Venn diagram of queerness and regeneration . As their website explain , “ Solar Punk Farms is by and for the queer biotic community , ” while Schwanz adds that , although the farm is not just for the queer residential area , it ’s very much inform by it . “ There are a clump of share principles between the queer apparent motion that do out of the AIDS crisis and the regenerative movement that ’s find now , ” he adds . “ How to gainsay the status quo , how to face existential crisis with a sense of pleasure and celebration and frivolity , to keep people doing the work energized . ”
“ If you desire to actuate people to make a big variety , you have to tell them what the futurity look like and what they ’re run towards , rather than warn them and have them function away . ”
They ’re also trying to rewrite the tale that all funny hoi polloi want to do is company . “ Generally , when you think of untested queer people and what they do on the weekends , it ’s a lot of traveling and partying and being inside and deliver this urban life-style , and we ’re trying to reshape that , ” Schwanz says . “ It ’s actually room more playfulness and interesting and radical to go to a rural place tight to your hometown , and spend the weekend building community and planting solid food . ”
Today , Solar Punk Farms is a far cry from the dirt caboodle that precede it . Much like the preservationist who step in to hold on logging in Guerneville , Schwanz and Scott helped twist dissolute realm into an oasis of diverse crops and diverse multitude . What once was decrepit and devoid is now green , lush , and fruitful . Schwanz and Scott are build out a “ solid food woods , ” a densely planted conglobation of crops filled with yield and crank trees , along with a garden market area , a greenhouse , community garden box for folk who do n’t have approach to their own , and a sequoia glen with a degree for events and weddings . The duet also populate on - site , and they need to make tiny homes to act as a residential district keep outer space .
“ What we want to do is turn this place into a community hub that ’s just constantly buzzing with different case of regenerative task , ” Schwanz sum . “ We want this to be a place where all these different philosophies of regeneration overlap . We ’re way too small to have a monolithic impact on our own , but we can have a bigger impact with our undertaking by creating as many connections as potential . ”
Big West Wine Fest|Courtesy of Solar Punk Farms
At the root of it all , as with much of Guerneville itself , is the spirit of design , Pride , and revolution built-in to the fagot residential district . It ’s why a fast scan of theirsocial mediashows spry Fannie Farmer sans sleeve , and why chicken and tomatoes and wild flower coexist with creative person , wine maker , Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree - huggers , and the same type of poof travelers who get to Guerneville forLazy BearorRussian River Pride — where gayness overlap with nature .
“ Queer citizenry have been revolutionary for our integral existence , it ’s part of our DNA , ” says Schwanz . “ And so much of what ask to happen in the regenerative movement is that radical spirit . ”
Husbands Spencer Scott and Nick Schwanz on their regenerative farm in Guerneville.|Courtesy of Solar Punk Farms
