Farm Life
Temma Roby Builds Community in Tehama County…
Timing and circumstance sometimes open the door to a life unimagined. Such was the case for Temma Roby in 2023 when she left the San Francisco Bay Area in search of a bucolic life on 20 acres in Tehama County.
“I’ve wanted a farm for decades, but thought it was out of reach because of work and family obligations,” says Roby, who began to reconsider her dream when confronted with a health challenge and the end of a relationship amidst a worldwide pandemic.
“I realized I could do whatever I wanted and didn’t need anyone else’s permission,” Roby says. What she wanted was a quieter life near the waters she fly fished, a hobby she adopted during the pandemic. “I didn’t really think about having livestock,” she adds, “but I have a seasonal pond that I thought I’d eventually stock.”
A year later, with her two daughters home from college, she took in her first ewe and a bummer lamb they named Trout. (Roby explains that bummer lambs have been rejected by the mother and cannot nurse, which makes them vulnerable and in need of human intervention to survive.) Soon after, they brought home a one-eyed goat.
Three years later, a “retired” livestock guardian dog and his 9-month-old canine trainee keep a watchful eye on the farm’s Dorper and Suffolk sheep, Nigerian dwarf does and kids, chickens, ducks, quail and a few barn cats. Both abled and disadvantaged animals live peacefully together in community, a core value underlying everything Roby seeks to achieve with the farm.
“Last May we hosted our first Open Farm Day and had 40 people come through, many with children,” says Roby. “The farm stand was open and the animals were out. People from the community who had never met each other sat and talked. There was a real sense of connection.”
For Roby, it’s a connection that is as much about community investment as it is about meeting new friends. When Corning Union High School District’s new R Farmhouse project sought vendors to help supplement the produce grown by its FFA students, Roby applied. Along with produce, duck eggs, sourdough, jam and honey, she donates a percentage of sales back to the project. When the government shutdown halted CalFresh/EBT benefits, she set up a free food pantry.
The weekend farm stand operates on an honor system. “We believe people in the community deserve access to fresh food,” says Roby. “We operate our self-serve farm stand on the honor system because we trust our community—and because we want food to be accessible without barriers. If someone is struggling, we would much rather have a conversation than see them go without.”
Roby’s commitment applies also to animal and land stewardship. “We treat our animals with respect and care, spending time with them daily and performing weekly health checks,” she says. “Most of our animals have names. We took in Eeyore, our goat with one eye, from an Oregon rescue when he was three days old and he’ll live all of his days with us as will most of the original ewes and goats.”
Roby and her daughters are committed to sustainability. They test, amend, cover crop and till the soil every year and forego chemical pesticides, which means sometimes they lose crops. Sheep and goats rotationally graze to “give the main pasture a break” as well as nurture healthier animals through free feeding.
Despite the wins, farm life can be difficult. During the summer of 2024, Roby says they battled the effects of heat on animals and crops, a wasp infestation that invaded their home, broken pipes that halted water from the well, a grasshopper plague that killed their younger trees, and the exploding corpse of a goat that died of bloat.
“Some days are really hard,” Roby says. “I think small wins keep us going. We make mistakes and learn from them.” She shares what she’s learned through classes like “Introduction to Goat Keeping” and “Lambing for Beginners” as well as seed starting and introduction to sourdough. The ranch also hosts special events like the upcoming Perseids Meteor Shower stargazing evening.
With the ranch in its second full year of farming, Roby is considering what she wants to explore next. Interested in working more with schools, she would like to start a farm-based morning story time. After a visitor at last year’s Open Farm remarked at how “cuddly” the goats were, she started thinking about creative ways to bring her animals and community members together. Maybe a coffee and goat cuddle hour? •
Roby Ranch Open Farm Day
May 9, 10 am – 1 pm
5670 Keene Road, Corning
www.robyranch.org
