Category Archives: Regenerative Agriculture
Permaculture Consulting for Farmers
Ecological production by design.
To support our local and regional farming community, store AppleSeed Permaculture offers low-cost agricultural consulting to full-time farmers. Our areas of expertise include:
- Crop selection & market development
- Agroforestry plantings & tree crops
- Keyline design for soil-building & water harvesting
- Whole farm financial planning & design
Using a specialized design process co-developed with Mosaic Farm, price we help farmers choose appropriate permaculture crops, cialis 40mg landscape patterns, and productive polycultures for ecological and economic prosperity. Contact us today for more information.
Open Enterprise Budgets
AppleSeed Permaculture designs diversified organic farms using permaculture principles and processes. Our designs integrate agroforestry, keyline planning, holistic management, biodynamics, aquaculture, and restoration agriculture.
We also install 1000-tree nut groves, plant permaculture food forests, dig earthen ponds, and more – whatever it takes to bring your farm to the next level. And, we do farm business planning to figure out how to make it all profitable.
Now, we’re collaborating with the good folks on FarmHack.net to offer new tools for the farming community: Open Enterprise Budgets. These tools are not for deep ripping or easy weeding – they’re economic. They’ll help you understand the numbers and choose profitable crops. They’ll help you make smart decisions and avoid costly mistakes. Basically, they’ll help you do less work and make more money.
Unlike standard enterprise budgets, which often offer an average of many farms’ finances and are focused on large-scale conventional agriculture, Open Enterprise Budgets use an online wiki-like format to preserve the diversity of different farms’ experiences. You can view a full range of financial realities and use them for your own farm planning. You can also contribute your own financial data, improving the overall usefulness of the tool for other farmers. For the first time, small farmers and organic farmers can pool their knowledge to create budget tools appropriate for their scale and management practices.
Extensions officers and university folks who have created the bulk of all enterprise budgets to date (Thank you!!!) are equally welcome to participate, adding your perspective and considerable knowledge alongside the voices of farmers who are on the ground growing food.
These budgets will stay up-to-date and relevant to farms of scales and management practices, simply by crowdsourcing (crowdfarming?) real time data from farmers around the world.
To view the budgets, head on over to our Open Shop on FarmHack.net. We look forward to your input.
Also, to continue our research for the farming community, we’re teaming up with the Carbon Farming Course and doing a Time Use Survey. Complete the survey and receive a 5% Discount on the next Carbon Farming Course!
Survey: Click Here
Permaculture Cohousing in Connecticut
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AppleSeed Permaculture LLC is proud to join Centerbrook Architects on the design team for Green Haven Cohousing, drugs ambulance an exciting project in the West River watershed of CT. In collaboration with the people of Green Haven, malady recipe the Bethany community, treat and the local ecosystem, we look forward to bringing permaculture to Connecticut!
Sustainable, low-impact neighborhood planned for Bethany.
Bethany, CT—June 6—Green Haven, Inc., a group of area residents, has obtained an option to purchase a 31 acre parcel on Meyers Rd. in Bethany, where they hope to build a sustainable neighborhood of modestly priced homes.
Green Haven members, some of whom are long-time Bethany residents, plan to live in the community. They will be working closely with the architects, engineers, and contractors to ensure that the development is in keeping with Bethany’s rural character and community values as well as being consistent with the town’s Plan for Conservation and Development. Initial response from neighbors and local citizens has been positive.
The property was previously approved for a 48-unit senior affordable housing development that would have occupied the entire site with suburban-style homes, lawns, and driveways. Green Haven’s vision is for fewer, smaller units clustered around a large common facility, the activities hub of the community.
The multi-generational, family-oriented community will feature private and community gardens as well as small-scale farming, in a pedestrian-friendly layout that encourages healthy interaction. The shared common house may include amenities such as a large kitchen and eating space, children’s playroom, craft rooms, and a woodworking shop, allowing individual residences to be comfortable yet small and inexpensive to maintain.
Centerbrook Architects—nationally known for their beautiful, sustainable, energy-efficient buildings—will be the project architects. They will be working with AppleSeed Permaculture on the plan, with most of the site to be kept as open space for farming, conservation, and recreation.
There are more than 200 cohousing neighborhoods nationwide, but Green Haven’s will be the first in Connecticut. Cohousing is a form of intentional community in which families own private homes and participate in the community’s consent-based self-governance and, if they choose, in community activities.
The Green Haven group has been working for several years to find a site where they can develop their community, and securing the option on the Meyers Rd. property is a major step forward. Their intention is to live as sustainably as possible, with a low carbon footprint, low-impact design, and significant on-site food production. They intend also to participate fully in the wider Bethany community as good neighbors.
For more information on cohousing, visit www.cohousing.org. For more information on Green Haven, visit www.greenhavencohousing.org. The group hosts community dinners twice a month at which newcomers and future neighbors are welcome. The schedule is posted on their blog, newhavencohousing.blogspot.com.
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CONTACT
Green Haven Cohousing – Jack Nork, jack@nork.com, 203-500-2688
AppleSeed Permaculture LLC – design@appleseedpermaculture.com, 845-594-4518
AppleSeed Land Managers: Beyond Property Management
Are you interested in finding a piece of land to steward, manage, farm on and grow with for the next 1-10 years? Would you like to start an agricultural enterprise or educational farm without the challenges of purchasing land? Appleseed Permaculture is glad to announce our new project, AppleSeed Land Managers.
We match land owners (individuals, families, land trusts, retreat centers, schools, companies etc.) who want to
- Grow food
- Build community
- Regenerate their local ecosystems
With land managers (individuals, couples, and families) who want to
- Grow food, community, & local ecosystems
- Build their skills and experience with land management  & eco-agricultural enterprises
- Develop long-term relationships with the land and local professional network
Essentially, we build symbiotic relationships that put people on the land and generate multiple forms of capital for everyone involved.  Land managers will receive compensation for their services, and land owners will achieve returns on their investments in financial, material, living, social, or cultural forms of capital. We are building this match-making service to meet the parallel unmet needs we’ve encountered among our design clients, our students, and our colleagues in the permaculture and organic farming communities. We invite you to be among the first people who try a new approach to meeting property management and development needs by engaging in the AppleSeed Land Managers process.
The types of people we’d like to engage as land managers are bright eyed, bushy-tailed, self-starter, situationally aware, go-get-‘em, positive, grateful, dependable, perseverant, clear-communicating, whole-systems thinking, and committed to personal growth and development. They have specific experience in permaculture, organic farming, or social entreprenurship. As of Spring 2012, we are looking to find one couple or family and two individuals (one farmer and one farm educator) to fill specific positions in the northeast USA.
Here’s what will happen if you meet the criteria above and would like to get involved:
- You submit a resume and online application
- We conduct a preliminary phone interview with you
- We conduct an in-person interview with you
- We invite you to join Appleseed Permaculture for trial work day(s)
- We give you specific feedback and ask you to re-apply in the future
- OR
- We invite you to join our Land Managers Network!
Once you’re fully enrolled in our network, we will work with you to discover and outline your specific wants and preferences regarding land and a relationship with a land owner. From then on, we will pursue contacts with land owners on your behalf until we find a prospective match for you!  Finally, we will support you in the process of forming new relationships with the land and the land owners. This includes:
- Understanding and developing a well-articulated vision and plan for the land
- Business planning for eco-agricultural enterprises
- Creating clear written legal agreements between land owners and land managers
- Receiving continued mentoring from AppleSeed Permaculture staff
As the first wave of applicants to our Land Managers Network, you’ll have the opportunity to help us streamline and grow our new process.
We look forward to meeting you and networking on your behalf,
The Appleseed Team
Download the application questionnaire here:Â Land Managers Application
AppleSeed Permaculture Interview: The New Eco-Social Economy
Click here to download an mp3 of Rebecca Collins (Sustainable Agriculture Examiner) interviewing Ethan Roland and Dyami Nason-Regan of AppleSeed Permaculture. We discuss wild food forests, this do-it-yourself universities, no rx local regenerative agriculture, decease and the creation of a cooperative eco-social economy. Enjoy!
AppleSeed Permaculture Interview
General Resources
- AppleSeed Permaculture: www.appleseedpermaculture.com
- Gaia University: www.gaiauniversity.org
- Edible Forest Gardens: www.edibleforestgardens.com
- The Crash Course: www.chrismartenson.com/crashcourse
Local Resources
- Rondout Valley Locally Grown: http://rondoutvalley.locallygrown.net
- Rondout Valley Growers Association: www.rondoutvalleygrowers.org
- Hollengold Farm (Wendy Hollender): www.hollengoldfarm.com
- Slow Roots Farm (Jacob Diaz): http://slowrootsfarm.com
- Northeast Organic Farming Association: www.nofa.org
- Mohonk Mountain House: www.mohonk.com
Plant Resources
- The American Chestnut Foundation: www.acf.org
- Oikos Tree Crops: www.oikostreecrops.com
- St. Lawrence Nurseries: www.sln.potsdam.ny.us
Permaculture Orchard Renovation
(Note from Ethan: This post is a final design report by the 2010 AppleSeed Permaculture Interns Brandy Hall (Ashevillage Institute & owner of Shades of Green, clinic Inc) and Evan Schoepke (Gaia Punk Design Co-op & Punk Rock Permaculture E-Zine). The full design presentation is included as a slideshow at the end of the post. AppleSeed Permaculture is currently accepting applications for our 2011 Internship program – click here to learn more.)
Design Challenge
We set out to address the challenges of an existing five-acre orchard which had not been managed in five years…
Can Agriculture Regenerate Damaged Land?
Keyline Agroforestry, Viet Nam
I am seeking actual examples of properties where regenerative agricultural practices have restored damaged land and increased their property values. Specifically, projects that used permaculture, holistic management / planned grazing, organics/biodynamics, soil foodweb / biofertile soils, and other regenerative agricultural practices. I want to find examples to support the growth and acceptance of these tools as potential means to create resilient, just, and sustainable human communities on the planet. To see some examples, keep reading below the fold.
Why Edible Landscaping? Top 30 Plants
Would you like to turn your lawn or garden into an abundant edible oasis? The following slideshow will offer you the basic reasoning, medications principles, pharmacy and plants to transform your home or workplace. AppleSeed Permaculture is also available for consulting so that you can choose the appropriate plants and plant communities for your particular site.
Ethan Roland of AppleSeed Permaculture presented this slideshow in September 2010 for two incredible organizations: The Kismet Rock Foundation in North Conway, NH and The Alchemy Juice Bar & Mama-lution in West Hartford CT. Both organizations are doing excellent social and ecological world-change work, and we highly recommended that you support their projects… Continue reading
Permaculture for Farmers: Crops, Patterns, Polycultures
Every time Benneth Phelps (Mosaic Farm) and I prepare to give this talk (this time at the 2010 Northeastern Organic Farm Association Summer Conference) we end up tearing it apart and redesigning it completely. Here’s a sample polyculture from the talk:
This time, Benneth drew on her recent experience creating a complete business plan for her venture Mosaic Farm in the Connecticut River Valley of western Massachussets. We articulated a new design permaculture process for farmers, who need to focus on specific marketable crops along with the larger landscape patterns necessary to support and maintain them.
For a summary of our new design process, Continue reading