Feeding friends

River School Farm isn’t new to Reno. It’s been around in a variety of forms since 1992 when owner Tom Stille started it out as a nursery.

“Well, I started it because I was in the landscape business, and I wanted to start a nursery,” Stille said. “And for eight years we ran the nursery, and then some of bigger ones like Home Depot came. Then I did a kite shop for a couple years because I liked to fly kites and my son did, too. And then we changed and got more into the school because we built another building and then we had the dance studio and mirrors, and we started the farm.”

The business has three basic divisions now, according to Stille. There’s the landscaping division where landscape architects and gardeners build gardens for clients. And then there’s the school and farm divisions. RSF hosts many classes in farm-related activities, dance, yoga and drumming at various times as well as various events, programs and camps. It’s also meant to be a demonstration farm for locals to get inspiration and help.

The buildings on the premises have electric and hydronic solar to heat them and their water, and some of them are made with two-foot thick straw bale earth plaster.

“They serve to utilize our resources, but they’re also really good for insulation,” Stille said. “And then some of our wood came from a fire that was here about 15 years ago maybe, Floriston Fire. We harvested all this wood from the dead trees, so we do a lot of recycling.”

There is also a stage made of pieces of the old Mapes Hotel that is used during weddings. Stille said the farm is a relatively popular wedding venue and that they usually have about 3 weddings a month in the summer.

“One of the newer things we’re trying to do is grow food for the wedding dinner as well as cut flowers,” Stille said. “So the bride can walk down the aisle with the same kind of flowers that are growing around here.”

They also dry fruits and vegetables—pears, grapes to make raisins, tomatoes, beans and others. Stille said he had done some of this before, but now does a bit more in a shade tunnel on the farm.

And Stille said they also use low, mid and high tunnels for growing, which have helped revolutionize farming in the high desert because they protect crops from animals and the weather, and they raise humidity levels.

One of the newest additions to RSF is a farm at nearby Patagonia where they sell food to the cafeteria. They also sell food to area restaurants as well and have their own online market. (The online-ordered food can be picked up at the farm on Thursdays.)

Stille said that an important aspect of RSF is that he is constantly trying to limit their inputs. They do this is in a variety of ways, including with a worm bin and with composting. They use kitchen and landscaping scraps from the farm and from landscaping jobs to make their compost and compost tea.

RSF has also started making hard cider and various types of vinegars inside their solar closet. They’re even making a malt vinegar from leftover beer from a wedding.

“Reno needs to be connected to our planet,” Stille said. “We need to be more sustainable, so doing many things locally including growing food, I think, is really important for Reno. … I think building community around the local economy is really important, so that’s why we do all this.”