Chuck Ingels has been the Farm and Horticulture Advisor with UC Cooperative Extension in Sacramento County since 1996. In this role, he conducts research and educational programs for tree fruit and wine grape growers, landscape professionals, and the public. He also oversees the Fair Oaks Horticulture Center, which is maintained by over fifty Master Gardeners. He was the lead  technical editor and author of the UC Davis publication, The Home Orchard, published in 2007, as well as Cover Cropping in Vineyards, published in 1998. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in fruit science from Cal Poly, SLO, and a Master’s degree in horticulture from UC Davis. From 1989-96, he was a tree and vine crop analyst for the UC Sustainable Agriculture Research & Education Program.

Carl Rosato is the owner of Woodleaf Farm in the Sierra foothills of California, which has been Certified Organic for over 30 years. He has been an organic fruit farmer since 1975 and focuses on growing the most flavorful and minerally balanced fruit. Carl has conducted research on brown rot control using organic materials with funding from Organic Farming Research Foundation. He helped direct, design and run the Going Organic Project through the CCOF Foundation. In addition, Carl has worked with farmers as a soils consultant for over 25 years to balance soil minerals and to design and maintain organic orchards. He regularly teaches organic farming classes at colleges and to farming and gardening groups, and has taught collaboratively in Mexico and Ecuador, doing work to protect 70 acres of primary forest in the latter. Carl has served on the boards of CCOF and CAFF. He is passionate about understanding how organic farming systems work and loves to teach what he learns.

Marisa Alcorta dove into agriculture after living on a permaculture farm in Costa Rica in 1998, and her passion has been helping farmers work toward a more sustainable agriculture ever since. She has worked at NCAT (the National Center for Appropriate Technology) and the ATTRA project for the last 5 years, helping immigrant and beginning farmers learn more about how to get started farming. Her expertise is in marketing, business planning, record keeping and farm finances, organic soil management, ecological pest management and access to government programs. Marisa brings experience as a farm worker, farm advocate, farmer educator, and as a beginning farmer herself to the table. Marisa launched a farming partnership in 2012 with 3 other women, called Cloverleaf Farm, producing organic vegetables and managing a 4-acre stone fruit orchard. She received her B.S. from Cornell University where she studied sustainable agriculture and international development, and her M.S. from UC Davis in Horticulture & Agronomy, where she studied Viticulture. She received her Permaculture Design Certificate in

February of 2012.