Laura Hoffman and Timothy Prow

In Laura Hoffman's Own Words...
Agriculture has always been a part of me. These questions, these curiosities, this knowing has followed me, encircled me throughout my daily life, in my travels, and in my dreams.
I recall the Maynards; the family that watched over me and my sister when we were children. They lived on one of the last farms in our small New England town. I remember watching the egg collection, the horses grazing, the bulls getting out of their pastures and running down the road. I call to mind this way of being with a smile of knowing that I wanted to be a part of it even as a young girl. I recollect driving through the green pastures of Vermont, watching the farmers and desiring to be with them, learning from their daily existence and wanting inherently to tap into that knowledge. I often reminisce of the hours of staring out the windows on trains and buses in Asia, Europe, South America and the United States and watching the people, the customs, and the "culture" of working with the land. I recall being in awe of the hillside farming methods on the steep slopes of the Himalayas. I fondly remember the acceptance letter from Peace Corps, stating that I would be working with farmers as a teacher of various types erosion control methods, integrated pest management, environmental education for two and a half years in Honduras.
Food culture, production and management is the foundation of who we are as organisms on this planet. I have seen many methods of doing so, ranging from the xenophobic pack rat like creatures hauling in what they desire and covet, to the subsistence farmers all over the world trying hard to feed their families and communities, but often using methods that poison their soil. I have known that there is a balance; there has always been a balance, a way of knowing, knowledge from predecessors that was and is somehow forgotten.
Upon attending Permaculture Design School in July of 2010 many of the pieces of the puzzle were made more clear to me. Ranchers and farmers need to coexist and be in partnership. This is a symbiotic relationship; one that I seek to understand more fully, so that I may become an effective land steward and agrarian. I hope to learn more of the interconnection between the ranching and farming relationship and become even more fluent in the applications.
These snapshots into my existence have not merely been moments, but rather they have been stepping stones for me leading me to where I feel I have the most to learn and the most to offer.
For me, this opportunity to learn from remarkable land stewards at the 47 Ranch through the Quivira Coalition's CARLY Ranch Apprentice Program is yet another step for me in the down the path towards a life that I have been building, stepping stone by stepping stone.

In Timothy Prow's Own Words...
I was born in rural Southeast Arizona. After decades of pursuit I found myself with the desire to return to where I was from.
My upbringing was spent outdoors. As a result I feel a profound connection to the Earth. I grew up hunting, fishing, hiking and floating. I have been cooled by the Gila, the San Francisco, The San Pedro and The Salt Rivers. I have nearly drowned in the Yampa and felt the freezing bite of the Sweetwater and The Blue.
Once here I saw a place that I remembered as covered with vegetation and numerous water sources had now become dry and barren. In one man's life, rivers had completely dried up. Rivers such as the San Pedro and the Gila were places where as a child I played, fished, went swimming and grew. These places are gone now. Vast areas that were once covered with small farms producing a diverse menu of food had been replaced by the monoculture.
I have lived rurally throughout the Rocky Mountain West for most of my life. Off the map places like Bisbee, Safford, Jeffrey City, Craig and popular places like Santa Fe, Breckenridge and Flagstaff have all been my home. I have an education back ground in the building trades. I have been licensed as a Master Plumber in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. I received a Systems Maintenance Administrator Designation from the Building Owners and Managers Institute. Additionally I am a painter and have held Solo Exhibitions in Los Angeles, Colorado and Arizona.
After attending Permaculture Design School in July of 2010 I began to see my past connecting me to my future. My past experience and training as a master plumber and a systems maintenance engineer provided the window for me to discover new interests of sustainable building systems, rainwater harvesting and irrigation as well as solar plumbing applications. These new interests have led me to discover my own innate desire for land stewardship and the responsible use of resources.
Walking upon The Earth I have witnessed vistas from the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners, the Wind River Mountains and the Tetons. The mountains and the deserts have guided me to places where I could see myself. Man and his landscape are eternally bound by the food that grows from their partnership.
I have walked many paths and they have all led me to this one: to grow food for the purpose of feeding a community and enriching a biological system.
Although I have always lived and played on landscapes that were deeply affected by ranching, I did not make the connection of livestock and its role in ecological management. Last summer at the local farmers market I was fortunate to meet a local rancher selling local grass fed beef. His passion for raising beef and repairing a damaged landscape inspired me to want know more, much more. Lucky for me that rancher was Dennis Moroney of the 47 ranch. Since meeting the Moroneys I have been fed physically, emotionally and intellectually. I have been inspired. I'm hungry for more.