Homestead Paradise: got barren land, boosted it at a profit

Channel: Kirsten Dirksen

In the early 90s, Mark and Jen Shepard bought a degraded corn farm in Viola, Wisconsin, and began to slowly convert it from row-crops back to a native oak savanna that would become one of the most productive perennial farms in the country. After 8 years of homesteading in Alaska (arriving just as the Homestead Act was expiring) where they had been forced by low-paying jobs to discover “which trees, shrubs, bushes, and vines we could get food from”, they arrived in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin ready to apply their knowledge of permaculture (“permanent agriculture”). Over the past nearly three decades, Mark has planted an estimated 250,000 trees on the 106-acre farm. The main agroforestry crops are chestnuts, hazelnuts, and apples, followed by walnut, hickory, cherry, and pine (for the nuts). For short-term income, the couple planted annual crops, like grains and asparagus, in alleys between the fruit-and-nut-bearing trees. Cattle, pigs, lambs, turkeys, and chickens act as pest control and free composters as they roam the savannas of the farm. Not content to rely on commercially-produced seeds, Mark does his own breeding to find the best-adapted trees to his region using the method he’s dubbed STUN (Sheer Total Utter Neglect). He plants trees at a higher density than recommended and with as much diversity as possible (at one point they were farming 219 varieties of apples) and then lets pests and disease run their course. He fells diseased trees or those that don’t bear enough, or early enough, fruit. The result is orchards hardy enough to survive even Chestnut Blight. As more and more of the alley crops have been replaced with trees and pocket ponds to help manage water on the farm, the land here has returned to the native savannas where the mastodon once grazed 12,000 years ago (in 1898 bones were discovered 5 miles down the road). New Forest Farm has inspired many other perennial farms, especially chestnut farmers in the region, and Mark hopes that every schoolchild will plant their own apple seeds (and perhaps subject them to STUN) and that every family can plant a backyard food forest. Mark’s restoring agriculture course: Forest Farm: book “Restoration Agriculture”: On *faircompanes:

Recommended

Greater Longevity thru rediscovery of the Philosopher Stone: Amazing story of David Hudson's rediscovery of the Philosopher Stone. Renamed "Ormus" he showed us how to make it inexpensively.$0.99Amazing story of David Hudson's rediscovery of the Philosopher Stone. Renamed "Ormus" he showed us how to make it inexpensively. Rejuvenate health and longevity, achieve greater happiness and harmony

The Potential of Herbs As a Cash Crop$6.69Whether you you're a farmer looking for a profitable alternative crop or farmstead enterprise, a city dweller seeking a living in the country, or an entremreneur of any flavor, this book will dispel t

Ultimate Journey$15.37In 1958, a successful businessman named Robert Mornroe began to have experiences that drastically altered his life. Unpredictably, and without his willing it, Monroe found himself leaving his physical

Super Vitamin B Complex Gummies$24.39Full methylated B Complex with Methyl B12, Methylfolate, Vitamin C, Choline, Inositol, PABA for energy metabolism.

The Creature from Jekyll Island: A Second Look at the Federal Reserve$25.75Where does money come from? Where does it go? Who makes it? The money magicians' secrets are unveiled. We get a close look at their mirrors and smoke machines, their pulleys, cogs, and wheels that cre

Deep Self: Consciousness Exploration in the Isolation Tank (Consciousness Classics)$21.02First published more than 20 years ago and now with a new introduction by the author, this classic work presents the methods and conclusions of more than 25 years of experimentation with the isolation

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.