Kate Tirion, Founder and Executive Director of Deep Dirt Farm Institute grew up on a 11th Century Amish-style (pre-industrial) farm and flour mill in West Wales. Her father taught agriculture practicum, her mother was a naturalist with a passion for fungi. Every day was an opportunity to learn. "I grew up with livestock, arable crops, beekeeping, orchards, wine making, beer brewing and a million other things. Everything we ate was made from scratch, much of it produced on ours and neighbor’s farms", says Kate. "I studied agricultural biology in high school, and was a Young Farmer (UK’s 4-H) for four years.” Kate attended the Center for AgroEcology and Sustainable Food Systems at the University of California at Santa Cruz where she was certified in Eco-Horticulture, the gold standard for organic food production in the United States.