Meet John Tecklin, Farm Founder, and Champion of Community Supported Agriculture
Photos by Ingrid Nelson & Mountain Bounty Farm
Mountain Bounty Farm founder, John Tecklin, grew up in the backwoods of Nevada County in a small log cabin with no electricity, phone, or hot running water. Brought up in back-to-the-land counterculture, John was raised on hard work, reverence for the natural world, social activism, and a love of good home-cooking.
After graduating from Reed College, John did significant stints as a forest activist, Outward Bound Instructor, climber/adventurer, and chimney sweep, but wanted something that combined an environmental and social mission with the tangible satisfactions of working outdoors.
As a young adult attempting to replicate his mother’s (legendary) cooking, John found he needed quality ingredients and became quickly obsessed with gardening. This led to a chance visit to a local farm, and with his hands deep in the soft, sandy soil harvesting potatoes, he knew farming was his future.
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
John landed a job on one of the nation’s first Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in Portland OR, where he eventually became a partner. He was inspired by the CSA ideal, where a community of eaters pledge their support for a local farm and in return, the farmers pour their heart and skill into producing the best possible food. While farming provided plenty of the challenge, magic, and beauty he sought, this idea of creating an alternative social system was a powerful draw. The possibility of an economy that was more about community than about competing against giant industrialized farms was, and still is, the driving vision behind Mountain Bounty.
How Not to Start a Farm
In 1997 John returned home to Nevada County and started Mountain Bounty Farm on a piece of land offered by family friends. He began with ¾ of an acre, $7,000 of savings, a wheelbarrow, a kiddie pool (for washing the veggies), and a borrowed pickup truck – an experiment he describes as, “how not to start a farm.” Many hard lessons were learned, but the passion remained.
Today, in its 28th season, Mountain Bounty Farm operates year round, serving our community with 50 weeks of annual produce. We are also proud to provide steady employment for our crew of dedicated farmers, who have grown from a group of ragtag idealists in the farm’s early years, into a team of seasoned professionals.
A Farmland Crisis Leads to an Opportunity
Mountain Bounty has always farmed on leased land, but in 2019 their landowner announced plans to sell the farm’s main fields. A coalition of local nonprofits came together and offered to help Mountain Bounty buy the land, but John proposed a different vision. Since the farm exists to serve the community, why not ask the community to buy and own the land? If the land were publicly owned, held, and protected in a land trust, it could then serve the community in perpetuity, long beyond Mountain Bounty, and without threat of future sale. This kind of community-driven thinking was, and still is, the bedrock of Mountain Bounty’s Mission. A group of nonprofits, called Forever Farms, began a fundraising campaign. Within a few months, hundreds of locals had contributed enough to buy the land, which is now held by the Bear Yuba Land Trust and leased to Mountain Bounty. For the first time in its history the farm was secure in its location, and John and his team could invest in needed infrastructure to continue thriving for the long term.
Hungry? Mountain Bounty Farm Delivers Nearby
Almost three decades later, Mountain Bounty is now one of the most successful small farms in the Sierra Nevada region, and a local institution with a community of supporters deeply invested in the farm’s future. The farm still faces many challenges, like most small businesses today, but the dream to produce food for our community while building direct connections remains strong. Please join us. We deliver weekly to convenient pickup locations from Auburn to Grass Valley and Nevada City, and all the way up to Truckee, Tahoe and Reno.
“Connect with the land that sustains us.” – Mountain Bounty Farm
Author: Mountain Bounty Farm
