DAY EIGHT

Paying it forward

Lou’s gift for future generations

When Lou first bought Preston Farm and Winery, it was a monocultural farm: meaning it only grew grapes. He soon realized that this was ruining the land and began to bring diversity back by converting his property into a haven for fruits and vegetables. He even brought back livestock.

“It’s like appreciating the land the way our elders did. If you go back not just generations, but hundreds of years, people had a feeling for what their environment was contributing to the land. It’s almost like the farmer and his land is like an antenna receiving all of these influences…. And we need to learn to become reconnected to the land and to our environment. That’s part of what I think the challenge is for an organic farmer and a small family farmer… to become part of the land.”

– Lou Preston, owner of Preston Winery and Farms

“We’re hoping that we can also ensure that in the future the land will be farmed organically or whatever method is appropriate. It might not be the same thing as organic, but it would be regenerative, healthy farming, and chemical-free. That's a really important thing for us.”
- Lou

“Lou is a champion of biodiversity… I don’t want to have a monocrop of kale, I want to try and plant something that I know the bees are going to like”

-Kristin Morrison,  Head Gardener Preston Farms

“The farm is the epicenter of a community and we want to be that, we want to do that. And, if we can, to help other people figure out how to do that too.”

-Lou Preston

“You see in Lou a vision manager. Sometimes we’re too myopic to see it in the moment, but over time it starts to crystallize. He’s a mentor to all of us whether he wants to be or not”
- Grayson Hartley winemaker and viticulturist for Preston Farms

“ And you know I'm not a farmer strictly... I like to say I’m a dreamer that farms.”
- Lou