Come one, come all…
It’s our 2nd Annual Alexander Von Humboldt Day!

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Who is von Humboldt, and why celebrate him?
Two centuries ago, Alexander Von Humboldt’s observations changed the paradigm of how we view the natural world on Earth just like Einstein changed how we view the Universe.

Take a moment and imagine a world 200 years from now, where less than 1% of people know the name of Albert Einstein, or who he was, or his contributions to physics.  Hard to believe, yet that is the equivalent of where we are today with regard to the one man who, over 200 years ago, literally changed our understanding of the natural world.  A man whose audience was sought after by the greatest minds of the early 19^th century.   A man who inspired Darwin, encouraged Thoreau, collaborated with Emerson, and was a close friend to Goethe.  A man whose council was sought after by Thomas Jefferson, and all the kings of Europe. A man whose name was known by all, to the degree that there are more places and living things named after him than any other person.  And yet, less than 1% of people know of him.  

We at Harmony are determined to change that!  Every year, for his birthday, we celebrate the man now regarded as the “father of modern of natural science”

Born on September 14, 1769, Alexander von Humboldt first warned of potential climate change over 200 years ago.  He was the first naturalist to conclude that “no single fact can be considered in isolation” and coined this concept as the “Web of Life” which is a foundation principle of every environmentalist, naturalist, and organic farmer. By the age of forty, made contributions to our understanding of the natural world that include the interconnection of Eco-systems, biodiversity, plant-soil interaction, climate zones and micro-climates, climatology, and climate change resulting from deforestation. In addition, his observations led to the concept of continental drift which ultimately led to the theory of plate tectonics.  

All of here at Harmony Farm Supply are so excited and proud to celebrate von Humboldt’s birthday by revitalizing his memory and provide him his due place in human history.

Join us Saturday, September 12^th
from 9:30AM to 3:30PM in Sebastopol 
for a celebration tailored to his legacy with local guest speakers, current-day practitioners, as well as our own knowledgeable team, and some of our vendors (equipped with giveaways!)

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Guest Speakers

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About our Speakers

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More about the man of the hour…

In 1799, at the age of twenty-nine, Alexander von Humboldt abandoned a life of wealth and privilege, to embark on a five-year expedition of South America. The results of his observations and discoveries created a paradigm shift of how the natural world is seen, not unlike Newton’s or Einstein’s contributions to physics and how we see the universe. 

His expedition began in Caracas, Venezuela on July 29, 1799 disembarking from the ship that transported him across the Atlantic Ocean.  The New World was vast and mostly unexplored.  His travels would ultimately take him to Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador, considered the tallest mountain in the world at the time, where some of his key contributions were discovered.  The expedition’s assent was halted due to a vast crevasse, at the elevation of 19,413 feet, a height that no recorded human had previously reached.  During the ascent, using the numerous scientific instruments he had brought, including one that measured the “blueness” of the sky, he recorded everything measurable as well as his observations, his emotions, and the changes in the environment during the ascent: palms and bamboo at the base, then conifers and oaks, then alpine plants similar to those he collected in the Swiss Alps and lichen similar to those from the Arctic.  Upon advancing above an elevation of 18,000 feet, he recorded that the terrain was completely devoid of any plants, insects, or animals.  All these changes in plant types, soil types, and climate became the foundation for his Climate and Vegetation Zones that we to use to this day. He recorded barometric pressure and temperature changes that provided the foundation for his creation of the concept of isotherms that are still used today to forecast weather. At the elevation of 19,413, the fog finally lifted, and standing at the top of the world, “he saw the world as one great living organism where everything was connected” as told by Andrea Wulf in The Invention of Nature.  This new vision of nature we now refer to as Gaia, a name he had considered for one of his books.  After five years, it was time to return to Europe.  Following the same route back to Venezuela for his return, he passed by Lake Valencia and through the surrounding area.  Where he remembered lush forestland just a few years earlier, was now treeless and barren from deforestation by the Spanish colonialists.  The air was now arid and dry where it had been humid and moist.  The soil was barren of plant life, and the water level of the lake had significantly fallen.  He noted that the climate had changed as a result of the deforestation and warned of potential worldwide climate change if current land-practices were continued. “In this great chain of cause and effect,” Humboldt said “no single fact can be considered in isolation.”  He observed connections everywhere that he had traveled. With this insight, he invented the “web of life” which is a foundation principle for every Environmentalist, Naturalist, and Organic Farmer.

During his expedition, he sent specimens and copies of his notes back to Europe which would be published by newspapers all over Europe.  He received dispatches requesting more.  The world was hungry to hear and read about his discoveries and observations.  His notoriety spread across continents and crossed oceans.  He received several invitations from then President Thomas Jefferson to visit the United States, so on his return home to Europe, he stopped-off to visit Thomas Jefferson who regarded Humboldt as “one of the greatest embellishments of the age” where he spent several months cultivating a two-decades long friendship with Jefferson. Upon his arrival in Paris, he was cheered, wined and dined by all the notables of science, society, and politics.  He had become the first international celebrity.  He inspired other great thinkers and artists of the age; Darwin, Muir, Thoreau, Poe, Emerson, and a life-long friend of Goethe. Ten years after his death, on September 14, 1859, a worldwide celebration to honor the centennial of his birth.  Noted by historians and followers alike, this celebration stretched around the globe: in Moscow, he was revered as the “Shakespeare of Sciences”; celebrations and parades were held in every major city in the United States (New York City they honored him with banners and parades and referred to him as a man “whose fame no nation can claim”); the London Daily News reported that his fame “is in some sort bound up with the universe itself”; celebrations on every continent; and especially in his birthplace of Berlin where the city government closed for the day and 80,000 people celebrated.

To this very day, Von Humboldt’s vision of nature still influences our understanding of the natural world. Although the memory of him has faded, his name lives on in the many references to him: over 1600 places named after him*; over 100 animal species named after him; almost 300 plant species named after him; and one place on the Moon.To honor von Humboldt for his contributions to humankind, Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery is providing a time and space to celebrate him. 

Location

Hosted at Harmony Farm Supply & Nursery –
3244 Hwy 116 N, Sebastopol, CA 95472
September 12th , 2026 • 9:30am – 3:30pm