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Introduction

An agroforestry site for experimentation, demonstration, propagation and enjoying the gifts of trees. Located in the Finger Lakes, headwaters of Lake Ontario. Land once stewarded by Cayuga Nation, stolen by New York State and sold to a succession of buyers, leading to a group of buyers including myself.

Approximately 10 acres of meadow and 5 acres of forest. Known history includes renting for hunting (and sadly poaching) and occasional haying. Ground is wet and heavy, relatively fertile but difficult for mechanized agriculture.

Contact if interested in seeing management plan.

Goal

Regenerate diverse forest conditions that are useful for meeting basic human needs in mutualistic ways.

Objectives

• Maintain and enhance real estate value of land, to support investment which enables this land access and financial access to further efforts.
  1. Forest improvements using silviculture and scientific forestry.
  2. Tree propagation for on- and off-site use. Also see Plant Nursery page for more information.
  3. Field agroforest restoration through:
     1. Direct plantings and protection of trees;
     2. On-site propagation and spreading of established edges inward; and
     3. Seeding, establishing nuclei that merge (concept via Dave Jacke & Eric Toensmeier’s “Edible Forest Gardens”, Vol II, Ch2) , and managing natural succession for greater ecosystem services.
  4. Hydrology and ecosystem restoration to appreciate land’s economic, environmental, and social value.
• Experiment with, and demonstrate examples of, human- and community-scale agroforestry techniques: efforts that are effective, affordable, desirable, practical, and scalable; efforts that are achieved primarily using human powered technology (with the exception of common vehicles to move people and materials). To extend these efforts, I will document and disseminate the practices that work and plants that grow well.
• Explore land and agroforest access, work, and ownership models. This is approached with recognition of inequality of opportunities, the complexities of race and class privilege, the importance of diversity and sovereignty, and the need to heal the many traumas of humanity’s parasitic behaviors. This includes increasing access to using abundant tree crops for basic needs.

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