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Ellen Buechner
Co-Founder & Business Manager

Ellen is the part-time farm wife and business manager, traveling between the farm and her full-time job out of town.  She chose life on the farm to live more fully into her desire for sustainability, community, and mind-boggling amounts of large-scale cooking with fresh ingredients.  Ellen loves to sing and write in her spare time, works in community disaster preparedness, and has recently discovered a previously-hidden talent as a chicken whisperer.  She tries to get a little bit dirty each weekend, and feels very grateful that all the real farmers let her stay.

Gowan Batist 
Farm Manager/Sustainability manager NCBC

Gowan was born and raised on the Mendocino Coast. She studied metal fabrication and sustainable agriculture in college, and farmed in Portland, Oregon before returning to Mendocino to manage the Noyo Food Forest, Fort Bragg Unified School District’s farm-to-school program. During her three seasons as manager of the Noyo Food Forest, Gowan began composting spent grain from North Coast Brewing Company as a hobby. The hobby became a mission and a career and evolved into a formal partnership with NCBC.

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Jeffery Schultz
Co-Founder 

Visionary ~ Activist ~  Husband ~ Father ~ Grandfather

Mushroom Gathering Champion, and original Farm Curmudgeon

We miss you every day, Jef.  Your fingerprints are all over Fortunate Farm, forever.

U'i Wesley 
Agriculture extension specialist/ vegetable masseuse
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U’i is originally from Hawai’i but now calls Mendocino her home, she enjoys sharing her Hawaiian culture, singing funk music, doing community service and loves selling vegetables and learning history about vegetables.  She is a Mother and a Spouse.

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