New Cookbook, “Feasts on the Farm” Features Farm-to-Table Recipes From Tomales’ Toluma Farms

Since 2003, Tamara Jo Hicks has been the steward of Toluma Farms, alongside her husband and two daughters. Located off the Pacific coast, this sheep and goat dairy farm is the inspiration behind Hicks’ recently published Feasts on the Farm. 

Your new cookbook Feasts on the Farm is a collection of recipes with essays throughout. I found this to be a unique take on the classic cookbook. What was the reasoning behind this approach?

When my co-author, Jessica [MacLeod], who was a volunteer at the farm, suggested writing a cookbook, I was excited by the opportunity to give people ideas on how to use artisan cheese in recipes and equally excited to put the journey of the last two decades down on paper. It’s been a steep learning curve and I hope that there is information in there that is useful to anyone thinking about starting their own farm. 

Your upcoming event with Book Passage is in collaboration with The Marin Agricultural Land Trust (MALT). How did you become involved with MALT?

I lived in Woodacre in the early ’90s. But having originally come from San Diego, I was in awe of, and curious about, how all the open space and agricultural working lands existed along the coastline. I learned that MALT was a big part of this story, and was the first farmland trust in the country. Ninety nine families (60k acres) have placed their property in a conservation easement, as we have done, which guarantees that those lands will look similar, generations from now. Sue Conley (founder of Cowgirl Creamery) was a board member and played a role in introducing me to the organization. I sat on the MALT board for nine years and have been lucky to have participated in many events with the organization. 

Your background is in psychology. How did you transition to co-founding Toluma Farms?

Yes, my professional career was as a clinical psychologist. In the last 30 years, there has been a significant rise in anxiety and depression, and I firmly believe that stepping away from screens and instead connecting with nature, working with your hands, and engaging with animals are all things that can improve mental health. I see my two professions – a psychologist and a farmer – intricately woven together. I also wanted to acknowledge that Toluma Farms and Tomales Farmstead Creamery happened through a web of phenomenal support and not in a vacuum.

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