Projects
For Which We've Provided Financing:
Equity
Trust Fund Borrower Projects
Good
Humus Farm - Capay, CA
Near Davis, California, Jeff and Annie Main have spent
20 years developing their organic farm on 20 acres that they first rented
and were then able to purchase with the help of a USDA Rural Development
loan. Their plantings include hedgerows of native trees that serve as windbreaks
and a source of fuelwood, as well as 10 acres of annual crops, a large flower
and herb garden, and a diverse orchard. They operate a 100-member CSA and
supply a "winter and fruit share" for some of the members of another CSA
(operated by Live Power Farm, which Equity Trust has also assisted). An
Equity Trust loan allowed the Mains to build a new house on the land when
the old house in which they had been living was condemned.
Like the Davis family in New Hampshire, the Main's concerns extend beyond
their own immediate work and home. They have been actively involved in their
agricultural community and have helped to start a food coop and a farmers
market in Davis. They are also thinking beyond their own tenure on the land,
which they would like to see permanently protected and cared for. To this
end, Equity Trust has agreed to accept donations to a fund that would be
used to purchase a conservation easement -permanently protecting the land,
with the proceeds allowing the Mains to repay the loan for their new house.
In planning a fundraising effort for this purpose, the Mains are being helped
by the owners of Live Power Farm, who were successful in their own effort
to raise donations to allow Equity Trust to purchase a conservation easement
on their land.
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