From Pharm to Farm
About Alta Ego
Alta Ego Farm is a whole-self farm retreat experience. Reinvigorate your senses as you explore our 13 acres of land in California’s Sierra-Nevada mountains.
Welcome to Alta Ego Farm.
I spent 30 years as a biotech executive running a large organization. It was my job to understand the interdependencies of each factor in the organization, and how they came together to make up the whole.
It was, ultimately, unsatisfying.
My life shifted dramatically when I learned about permaculture - the art of understanding the interdependencies of biological organisms that make up flourishing ecosystems. I literally moved from pharm to farm, from organization to organism - applying my experience to growing, living things. In that work, I found something that I had been missing.
At Alta Ego Farm, we believe in personal permaculture. As human beings, we need to think about our personal cultivation - what our needs are, and how we can sustain ourselves within our personal ecosystems. Allowing the land to inspire and transform you can be an enormously healing experience.
- Vicky Hines, Founder and Principal of Alta Ego Farm
What is Permaculture farming?
Conventional agriculture tends to work against nature, instead of with it, tearing up natural ecosystems to provide a blank slate. Permaculture farming is a more holistic, sustainable approach to farming that works within the natural ecosystem to maximize high yields and productivity. Not only is permaculture cost-effective, but it allows nature to do most of the work.
We hope you get to experience…
Pulling your lunch out of the garden with your hands
Holding a 300-year-old book that has cat prints traversing the page
Looking out on the horizon and see nothing man-made
Walking amongst dogs, geese, rabbits, chickens, and ducks - and maybe even a local bear or two!
Learning about permaculture, wellness, and literature from experts