Wolfberry Farm

Prescott College’s Wolfberry Farm is an experimental agroecology farm dedicated to education, demonstration and research. The 30-acre farm, which was acquired in 1996, is located 15 miles north of Prescott, in the town of Chino Valley, a town with a rich agricultural history. The use of this land is changing, not only because of its growth as a community, but largely due to agricultural failures.

By providing Prescott College with farmland, the town of Chino Valley made a challenge: can agriculture be made more ecologically sustainable and economically viable in this region?

Working from the idea that long-term economic viability depends on ecological sustainability, students in agroecology courses address this challenge by experimenting with water saving irrigation technologies, drought tolerant and adapted crops, specialty crops, and fertility-generating rotations.

At Wolfberry Farm, Prescott College students:

• Can utilize the farm for classes, independent studies, research, and senior projects. The facility is useful for those interested in subjects such as sustainable desert agriculture, restoration ecology, environmental education, art, alternative pest management, organic farming, and other agriculturally-related subjects
• Conduct experiments in irrigation methods, native plants, drought tolerance, crop rotation, soil regeneration, organic farming and more
• Have opportunities to actualize their projects, such as the new passive solar and strawbale caretaker house, which was designed and built by students, and the new Community Supported Agriculture program, which was organized and is run by students.
• Can put their theoretical study into practice with hands-on experience in the field
• Contribute to the growing study of alternative farming practices
• Contribute to preserving and propagating native Southwestern plants
• Can help re-open the question of agriculture in the arid Southwest through research-based and demonstration-based education

By discovering some new ways and rediscovering old ways of growing food in arid climates, Prescott College students are joining innovative local farmers, school children, 4-H clubs, and home gardeners in the re-vitalization of agriculture in Chino Valley and elsewhere in northern Arizona.

Read the latest issue of The Wolfberry Sun (Acrobat), a newsletter dedicated to the work and research by Farm students and faculty.

For more information about the Wolfberry Farm, contact:

Tim Crews
Environmental Studies Faculty and Program Coordinator
Project Leader, Wolfberry Farm
(928) 778-2090 ext. 2215

The Wolfberry Farm is named for the pale wolfberry (Lycium pallidum), a perennial plant that grew in association with, and was probably cultivated by, many prehistoric Pueblo peoples of the Southwest. A relative of the tomato, pale wolfberry grows under erratic rainfall conditions and is extremely drought tolerant. The plant produces a tasty, small red fruit that is thought to have been used as a condiment.