PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM 125 a classroom located in the farm’s main barn. A rolling overhead door with clear panels allows students to soak in the splendor of the fields. “Seeing students making connections between lectures and readings and actually doing things in the field always brings me so much joy,” says Patrick. In fact, he credits students with planting the idea for this place. They’ve been writing proposals for decades. “They were learning about sustainable agriculture, but they knew that you can't just read about it and listen to people talk about it. You need to do it,” Patrick says. Pamela Matson, former dean of Stanford's School of Earth, Energy & Environmental Sciences, understood the students’ desire to surround themselves with green leafy things and get a little dirt under their nails. She hired Patrick to make the farm a reality. What began as a plan for a single-acre farm grew to six acres, thanks to a generous donation from Laura O’Donohue of organic Snow Hill Farm and her Stanford alumni husband, Kevin. “I met with all the campus planners and toured over the whole campus and we finally settled on this space,” Patrick says. At the time, the area was all oak trees and invasive weeds. As Patrick plotted his first crop, he knew he wanted to turn heads. “I wanted to show that, ‘Yes, we're a farm! We're here!’” That said, he had a few factors working against him: limited resources, no team, and parched land from California’s crippling dry spell. “So I planted an ancient Indian wheat called jammu and an Ethiopian barley,” he says. “Both of those being older varieties are really, really drought-tolerant. So we had this beautiful field of grain out here.” That spring, they planted their first block of vegetables. ABOVE: The Terry Huffington Barn includes a classroom and office space for the farm's growing team. The Farm’s Farm PHOTOGRAPHY COURTESY OF: JESSICA GONZALES CHU / STANFORD UNIVERSITY
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