Commons Cohort
We provide an innovative land access solution in our region by offering long-term land agreements for immigrant, BIPOC, LGBTQ+, and emerging farmers who (with support from SOR staff) organize themselves through shared community norms. We strive to prepare emerging farmers for success in establishing their own farm businesses.
As an emergent commons-based farm, we recognize our shared responsibility to steward and protect communal resources such as soil health and water quality, while building resilient and supportive farmer communities. Sharing Our Roots Farm exists as a place to foster the growth of emerging farm operations, improve food sovereignty, and to model how conservation and agriculture can coexist.
We exist to share. We share land, machinery, infrastructure, produce, technical expertise, and knowledge with each other.
Quick Links:
Frequently Asked Questions:
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In practice, our commons-based approach is rooted in sharing an ethic of land stewardship, critical farming infrastructure (barns, pack shed, irrigation), equipment (tools, tractors), and knowledge of farming practices.
In addition to resource sharing, farmers work collaboratively with the SOR team to establish communal expectations, priorities, and procedures based on the needs of the cohort.
Farmers at SOR have long-term land agreements and agree to meet regularly throughout the year to share feedback on how to improve our shared stewardship of the space.
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The term commons can simply be defined as “what we share.” It refers to resources and spaces that belong to everyone—water, air, land, libraries, parks, knowledge, and more. Commons are place-based and the care for them is informed by the culture, people, and landscape that they exist within.
To maintain these critical spaces and community resources, commons must be sustainably and equitably managed by the communities that use them. At Sharing Our Roots, we are committed to reframing our relationship to farmland and the environment to reflect these values.
The Sharing Our Roots Farm is a farmland commons that is stewarded by our entire community. We make collective decisions based on the needs of the land, water, plants, animals, and people that cohabitate the space.
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The Commons Cohort is not a formal farmer training program.
We provide holistic support to the farmers on the land by coordinating relevant training, linking farmers to educational resources, providing shared infrastructure and equipment, and fostering community connections.
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Long-term land access at an affordable rate
Shared infrastructure, equipment, and tools
Opportunities for bulk purchase of supplies
Training and educational opportunities
Community connection and mentorship
Opportunities to be mentored by Farmer Mentors
Linkage to regional resources, markets, and organizations
Collaboration in an intergenerational, multicultural farming environment with a diversity of farming operations (vegetable, botanical, flower, and livestock farms)
(To see more information, please view our Program Overview)
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Organic Farming Practices: Sharing Our Roots is a certified organic farm. All cohort farmers are expected to adhere to organic farming practices.
Land Stewardship: All farmers at Sharing Our Roots are expected to treat the land, water, air, soil, ecosystem, and co-habitants with respect.
Respecting Agreements: All farmers at Sharing Our Roots are expected to follow the Land Agreement and Farmer Shared Agreements.
Co-creation & Collaboration: We believe our future, and the future of our planet, depends on our willingness to share the best parts of ourselves and to work cross-culturally and intergenerationally. This includes unlearning white supremacy culture, challenging capitalist-centered values of individualism and private property, and centering racial justice in our work.
Standard Operating Procedures: Sharing Our Roots has Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for shared infrastructure and equipment use, as well as a food safety plan that all farmers are expected to follow to ensure the health of our community and to protect each other's farming operations.
(To see more information, please view our Program Overview)
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In line with our mission, Sharing Our Roots prioritizes land access for farmers from communities who have been excluded from farmland access due to systemic oppression and generational wealth gaps, including immigrant, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ farmers.
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The land now hosts 30+ growers, farmers, and land stewards working within 11 emerging farming operations. To learn more about the current Sharing Our Roots Cohort members, you can read their bios on our Farmers page.
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The Commons Cohort was established in 2019 with 7 farmers.
Our land sharing efforts began as a co-creative process from conversations with community members who were seeking spaces to grow food for home consumption.Initially, these neighbors helped us harvest our food on the farm. Their desire to actually grow and harvest for themselves has now become a reality.
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With our current irrigation systems on the farm, each crop farmer has the ability to grow on roughly 0.25-1.5 acres. Our goal is to be able to expand the tillable, irrigated land for annual and perennial crop farmers as the farm continues to build out infrastructure in the coming years.
Because of this, we are only able to offer a limited number of new farmland agreements each season. Land allocation is based on availability and alignment with the needs of the land and community, and it is subject to the discretion of the Sharing Our Roots team.