Bob Cannard

The Climb

Nursery work in Kenwood, Sonoma County, put propagation, cultivation, soil, and seasonal timing at the base of the practice; Bob Cannard helped run the family nursery there before moving into organic farming and produce growing for Chez Panisse. The same growing practice extended into a produce grower role at Postrio and into the development of a 65-acre carrot patch at Odwalla. Today, the farm remains both production site and teaching site: Bob is the farmer of Cannard Farms and a farmer and educator of Green String Farm.

Today

Crop observation, in this system, treats insects and other organisms as indicators rather than enemies. Bob Cannard frames them as signals of whether the environmental circumstances can support the crop at that time. That reading extends beyond plants and insects. Even stones are part of the field picture for him: “Most people think that rocks are dead. They're alive.”

In Their Words “They’re letting me know whether or not the environmental circumstances are sufficient to support that crop at that time.” “When I go out to the garden, especially the garden of nature, I see no pests.”

Recognition

Recognition for this kind of growing came through use: kitchens and food companies depended on the produce. Chez Panisse, Postrio, and Odwalla mark the public record of Bob Cannard’s field work, alongside a Sonoma Valley farm-and-institute founded in 2010. The line of practice is consistent. Restaurant produce work led into wider field relationships; the field relationships connected to Green String Farm and Green String Institute. Across those roles, the craft stayed centered on growing, with the farm functioning as both workplace and classroom.