Out newest Map as of August, 2014. (click to enlarge)
Agroforestry
As shown above a primary pattern for our land use comes inspired from the practices of Agroforestry, including;Forest Farming: Including current mushroom and maple syrup systems and future plans for growing medicinal crops.
Forest Gardening: Two sites offer a partial-shade and full-sun versions of forest gardens which will boast a range of edible, medicinal, and otherwise useful plants designed into polycultures
Windbreaks: Due to the high winds on our site we are experimenting with mixtures of black locust, honey locust, alder, siberian pea, willow, and hybrid poplar to establish multiple windbreaks.
Riparian Buffers: The lower portion of our landscape includes a seasonal creek that varies widely in flow throughout the year. We are designing a tree system to buffer creek flow and flooding events while producing edible fruits (paw paw) and nuts (walnut and chestnut) in a floodplain ecosystem mimic. Grazing animals will also be given access during appropriate times.
Silvopasture: Many of the other systems on the farm are designed for integration with animals, including ducks, pigs, and sheep. We are currently running ducks and plan to include pigs in our 2014 season and sheep starting in 2015.
Water
Water is life, and the essential currency of all healthy ecosystems. In considering the significant impact on water supplies the conventional agriculture carries and in the likely erratic and complex shifts in water due to climate change (more heavy rain events, more short term droughts, and everything in between), we have made water management a centerpiece of our farm development.Rainwater Catchment
Part of the original inspiration for the name "Wellspring" was when we first moved onto the property in 2013 and discovered that a well would be prohibitive due to a high clay content in the underground water supply. We decided to focus on rainwater as our primary source and installed a code-approved system for catching and storing rainwater for domestic use.
In addition, each building, be it a tool shed, duck shelter, or the yurt itself is equipped with watet catchment systems. Overall, we capture around 18,000 gallons of water a year off rooftops and store in a variety of tanks and two 1000' underground cisterns.Earth Storage
In addition to roof catchment we have considerable runoff from our driveway (over 700,000 gallons annually!) and slopes during heavy rain events. To manage this we divert water to a series of ponds (some in development) and through contoured swale systems and terraces. These features allow water to slow down and infiltrate into the soil without causing erosion.
Mushrooms: Shiitake, Oyster, and Lions Mane
The Southeastern acre of forest is predominantly sugar maple trees which make ideal forest conditions for log-grown mushrooms. Mushroom season runs from June to October with average yields of 30 - 60lbs of shiitake each week and a smattering of other mushrooms as weather permits.We harvest logs each winter as part of sustainable timber stand improvement thinnings of local woodlots and inoculate 200 - 300 fresh logs each year.
Sugaring occurs January through March, and we tap roughly 100 trees and collect sap for home and neighborhood use as well as for trades. We use old metal buckets and spouts and drag sap down to the sugarshack via sled. Hours spent around the boiler are times to gather with friends or inoculate shiitake logs.
Energy
We are off-grid and try to minimize fossil fuel use as much as possible, utilizing a number of strategies to reduce energy use and produce energy on site.- A 720 watt solar system provides our yurt with domestic electricity needs, with some supplemental generator use in winter months
- We pump water from our pond with a solar pump and gravity feed for animal and irrigation water, minimizing energy use.
- Wood heat is our primary means for home and bioshelter heating needs. We aim to produce all of our fuel onsite through coppice systems over the next ten years.
- Our mushrooms are solar dried which not only saves considerable energy but improves their nutrition, too!
- We still use propane for water heating, cooking, and backup heat but are researching alternatives to these.
Gardens
Currently the focus of our new vegetable gardens and terraced forest garden is in soil building.We are utilizing raised bed no-till systems. We use cover cropping, ducks, and importing of organic matter from local waste streams to improve fertility.
Our garden production is primarily for home use for fresh eating and preservation, along with serving as seed source and stock for our nursery production of perennial plants.
