Brooke Bonner

CFO - Chief Farming Officer ;)

I left my career in the nonprofit sector to become a farmer after my step-Dad, Archie, unexpectedly passed away in February 2021, leaving Mom with ~50 Arabian horses, 80 acres, a hay operation, and no staff or viable plan to manage and maintain the ranch. After spending the first year here walking around each day trying to figure out what each newly discovered implement was and how the hell it attached to which tractor, and spending each evening reading about farming and the changing role of agriculture in human and ecological health, I decided to embrace the challenge.

I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity to steward a spectacular piece of land, in a community I’ve lived in and loved for most of my life, and transform it into something that is deeply aligned with my values.

Each day brings a new lesson (and often a new opportunity to make an ass of myself), but learning is one of my favorite things. I love the diversity of duties - from creating the big picture vision, writing a business plan, and building a website, to planting thousands of trees and shrubs, installing kestrel boxes, and figuring out how to repair the plumbing and wiring on frozen horse waterers in the 10 degree winter. This life seems to fill my need for daily change and interest, balancing the physical and mental.

Now that we’ve planted more than 3,000 fruit and nut trees and shrubs in the last few years, I’m extremely antsy to see them start producing. In the meantime, I’ll entertain myself with growing our market garden with veggies, cut flowers, herbs, and who knows what else…

Hanging with Dad on the tractor - perhaps planting the seeds of a future farmer??

Drinkers of the Wind Team

  • Mindy Rider (& Frankie)

    FARM CO-MANAGER & PLANT CHAMPION

    Mindy has been working with plants for more than 25 years - landscaping, on trail crews, on farms, and with retail, wholesale, and native plant nurseries all over the United States. Locally, she served as the Food Production Coordinator for The Hunger Coalition for four years. She’s harbored a long-standing dream to start a native plant nursery, so it seemed like synchronicity that brought us together when she was ready to take the first step toward that dream. She helped launch our market garden in 2024 and is helping Brooke manage overall production and ranch ops. And Drinkers of the Wind is now the proud home and partner of High Desert Roots, Mindy’s new business celebrating the native and adapted plants of Idaho’s high desert. Learn more on her website here!

  • Kyle in a giant hat with black and white ranch cat Spats

    Kyle Baysinger

    CAT RANCHER & EQUIPMENT WHISPERER

    Brooke’s husband, tech advisor, troubleshooter, tree grappler, and pinch hitter extraordinaire. Kyle’s a genius with equipment manuals and YouTube video tutorials, and thankfully still answers my cries for help when I’ve broken some piece of machinery or other (which happens embarrassingly often). Non-profit consultant for Florida’s Live Wildly by day, seeking to balance smart growth, a robust economy and a connected, resilient landscape. He may look the part, but swears he’s “NOT a farmer!” Pictured chillin’ in the feed truck with Archie’s favorite cat Spats, who was with us for several years, but finally passed away at about a million years old. Kyle is eagerly awaiting his next box of kittens so he can fulfill his cat rancher destiny.

  • Helen on an orange tractor with two horses being nosy

    Helen Bonner

    HORSE LADY & MOM

    Mom is passionate about horses and worked closely with Archie on naming, raising, and working with every one he bred. She thinks I’m nuts for wanting to be a farmer, but is graciously humoring me and allowing me to transform big chunks of the ranch. She’s honoring Archie’s legacy by finding the perfect homes for his extraordinary horses. And there are a handful of retired ones that will live out their lives with us as pampered pets.

  • Ranch guardian Olaf standing on top of the hay stack

    Olaf

    BABY POLAR BEAR

    “Squirt,” LGD (Livestock Guardian Dog), Akbash/Great Pyrenees, ranch supervisor. Spends his days looking for deer and elk bones from recent mountain lion kills. Big bark, lovable snuggle bug.

  • Fred Zoolander

    Fred

    ZOOLANDER

    Goofy doofus, master of “Blue Steel,” old man who diligently follows us around to help with irrigation, vole hunting, and other daily duties. His deafness may or may not be age-related or selective… he’ll never tell.

  • Working in the garden

    Join the Team!

    VOLUNTEER SPOTS AVAILABLE

    Love working outside and have a passion for regenerative agriculture? While our staff positions are full for the season, we have several volunteer positions open. Click here to learn more and apply!