Designing Sustainable Small Farms

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[1] Problems. Good design takes advantage o all site resources, and especially those generally regarded as problems. Consider these, instead, as potential opportunities. While listing and analyzing your onsite resources, do the same for apparent problems ... the eroding hillside, the wet bog in the ten-acre pasture, that huge patch of kudzu, or the rocky outcrop where you'd hoped to put a garden.

Weeds, for example, are familiar "problems." Too often, eradication immediately follows identification. A better strategy is to find a productive use for such plants. Get to know each species, look up its economic botany to see if it contains useful medicinals or essential oils, and investigate its potential as a livestock feed or a green manure crop. Learn to recognize the functions of the plant, too. The very thorniness of some weeds suggests uses: protection for young trees from livestock and wildlife, hedgerows or living fences to contain animals, or simply a deterrent to trespassers. Now some weeds are just weeds and have no merit. But if a large patch of vegetation can be profitably exploited, you're better off using it: The very fact that this species is growing abundantly means that it's well adapted to the site, climate, and soil. Therefore, any managing of this "crop" would be minimal.

[2]Landscape indicators. Learn to read your landscape. Plant communities provide clues to microclimate and the texture, fertility, and moisture of the soil. Wild blueberries, strawberries, and dandelions (Photo 13), for example, indicate acid soils ... while thistle populations (Photo 14) may increase as a result of overgrazing. Eroding soil suggests the need for alternative land-use practices, and snow deposition patterns will tell you where the sheltered and calm areas are. Large numbers of acorns in the forest may suggest a lack of wildlife ... while the presence of wolf trees (those old spreading oaks) indicates that the land was once cleared for pasture or crops, thereby permitting later trees to adopt a spreading form rather than the columnar shape seen in native forests.

In gathering this type of information, record all of your observations, even those that seem irrelevant at the time. These records, singly or in combination, will provide much of the knowledge for correct placement that's crucial to effective design.

[3]Microclimates. Identify microclimates, particularly those specific to small areas where the influence of topography, vegetation, soils, bodies of water, and structures combine to produce a significant variation from the regional climate. Low-lying land, for instance, may be susceptible to late spring frosts ... an indication that early flowering fruit trees should not be planted there. In contrast, land near a large lake may remain relatively warm in winter because of the influence of the water's thermal mass, and thus might offer an ideal orchard spot (Photo 15). South-facing forest edges tend to be windsheltered and warm ... while north-facing slopes will be cool in the spring, thus delaying the budding of species susceptible to late spring frosts. After spotting specific microclimates, you can choose plants for their adaptive ness to these areas, thereby extending the range of possible crops. Once again, observation is the key to productive use.

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