A Permaculture Inspired Plan for a

Baby Boomers Workers

Cooperative Demonstration Farm

and Nursery

A Looking Back-Moving Forward

Farmers for 6 Centuries on a

Piedmont Plateau--PA Hill Farm

Prepared by Margaret Cahalan for Chesapeake

Forest Gardens Permaculture Design Certificate

(PDC) Course --Chears --Kim Walsh and Lincoln

Smith Teachers --- 2013

Goals Articulation for Design

1. Feasible business plan in the context of building a

new economy and healthy life style

2. Experiment with Organic Land Care Standards

implementation demonstration & Permaculture

concepts

3. CHEARS Mission– Rural—urban links place for

sustainable environmental literacy education and

4. Provide meaningful and valued work for baby

boomers such as myself to contribute to adaptation

and mitigation of climate change

Listing of Principles Toby Hemmingway

• Observe

• Connect

• Catch and store energy

• Each element performs multiple functions

• Each function supported by multiple elements

• Make least change for greatest effect

• Use small scale intensive systems

• Use edge effect

• Accelerate succession

• Use biological and renewable resources

• Recycle energy

• Turn problems into solutions

• Get a yield

• Design limits yield

• Mistakes are tools for learning

Build on Assets/Problems

1. Historic Models --Farmers of Forty Centuries-King’s

1917 work studying sustainable practices in Asia-

Forest Gardening—Robert Hart—Permaculture—

workers co-op models—Native American models

2. York County Farming Systems History--Placed

Based Education—Environmental Literacy

3. Climate Change Research—Adapt and Mitigate—

4. Health Motivation Young and old growth of chronic

health conditions----as we age and as our peers

age—dementia prevention

5. Farm itself—close to cities, diversity of

landscape—wetlands, few crop fields, streams, hill

sides—old buildings that are standing—farmed

until late—relatively

6. CHEARS Non-Profit resource

•

Observe and Interact Farm Natural Features

• 37 acre farm in York PA

• Piedmont Ridge and Valley

• Soil—Chester Glenelg—Hopewell Township of York County

• 1.5 hours from DC –also 40 minutes Baltimore

• Developing area—agriculture and Stewartstown-few subdivisions

• Mostly slopped

• 13 acres crop land

• ¼ acre pond

• Bordered by 2 wonderful streams and spring fed one right down middle

• Wetlands—major feature

• Small house—animals barns

6 Major Periods in Histories

1. Pre-Europeans---Three Sisters—since 1100 practiced

companion farming—self sustaining

2. Colonial --Diversified Small Scale farming—1750-

1830—Herb gardens raised beds—self sustaining

3. 1830-1885—Mechanized small farms—livestock and

crops for new markets—Baltimore

4. 1885-1940—Shifted to cannery crops, orchard, poultry

5. 1940-2000—More specialized capital intensive loss of

small farms and reliance on off-farm income—

Alternatives Biointensive—Organic--Permaculture-

Forest Demonstrations

6. 21st century—experiments with adapting and mitigating

climate change

Who are Gardeners?

1. Native---Sasquesahannok by 1700 only 300 left and

listed as extinct in Wikopedia

2. Colonial York formed —1749--Colonial—English,

Quakers, Dutch

3. 1800-1900 —Germans—Irish, Scots-Irish settlers

4. Hash Farm 1900-1999—live stock, diverse gardens,

hay fields

5. 2000-2011—Hobby farm—horses and birds, gardens,

landscape plants, pond

6. 2011—2 city families interested in doing environmental

projects together—CHEARS, Permaculture, ?????

First Gardeners

• Native Americans

In 1722, the American Indians who

inhabited what is now York County granted

permission for a survey of land west

beyond the Susquehanna River. The

Onondaga, Seneca, Oneida and Tuscarora

nations subsequently signed a treaty of

peace and deeded to the Penns "all the

river Susquehanna and all land lying on the

west side of said river to the setting of the

sun...“

Sasquesahanok (Iroquois language) in 17th

century fought and defeated Maryland

settlers and also Lenape (Delaware) in

several wars. Decimated by disease were

absorbed by other tribes by 18th century.

Listed as extinct as separate tribe

What Were Major Crops in York

County?

Many Streams Farm Overview

Many Streams Farm Areas

1. Pond

2. Wetlands—Bog Habitat

3. Ebaughs creek along road

4. West small area across Bridgeview

Road—Rail road track access

5. East small area across where

Ebaugh and Shaw stream meet

6. Entrance-road-grass park

A. 6A. Gate--Road to Shaw

Stream--Possible Greenhouse

site—mixed berries

B. 6B. Drive way with 75 osage

orange trees; Wine berries

C. 6C. Flat Grass Gathering

area—grass park;

D. 6D. Grass slope

7. Wooded area leading to Shaw stream—

south east slope

A. 7A flat area a top

8. Beautiful area along Shaw Stream

A. 8A 100 –mushroom logs

9. 1890’s small farm house; 1950’s garage

A. 9A—House veg garden and 2 peach, 3 pear, 4

apple and 4 blueberry and grape, flowers,

tansey, grasses, rose of sharon, sedum

B. Garage—large-tools workshop

C. Shed –2013—composting toilet

D. Tiny house –office sleeping

10. 19th and 20th Century live stock

farm buildings A. 10A Old 19th century barn

B. 10B Corn crib

C. 10C Hog house

D. 10D Newer barn

E. 10E Other animal structure

F. Old garage

Many Streams Areas (page 2)

11. Flat field with large old apple tree

and nut trees—possible forest

garden site-border of farm

A. 11A Corner turn large hickory—

volunteer osage orange—

coppice them

B. 11B Beautiful views Horse

pasture slope down to Shaw

Creek—tree nursery

12. Spring and water flow

A. 12A Spring flow cross drive and

flow to pond—CREP program

B. 12B Above slope and flat area—

Paw Paws

13. Steep sloped down to Ebaugh’s

creek and mixed wet and dry land

and bottom

14. Flat open field secluded—woods

surrounded—Native American

Companion planting—medicine

wheel

15. Largest field—hayed—East

Biointensive demonstration -14

foods—growing green compost;

barrier needed—next to

monoculture of corn field;

Bradford pear invasive

coppice/remove/graft

16. Small woods near power lines

17. Behind new barn—South

facing—Hedge row –invasives—

Paw Paw nursery—Potato area

Areas 1 -5 and 12 Wetlands—

Bob’s Bog

Pond and Wetlands

CREP --Area 1 and 2 and 12 and 3 Keep

Wetlands in Mid-Succesion and free of

invasives

• Plant species commonly associated

with bog turtle habitats include alders

(Alnus spp.), willows (Salix spp.),

sedges (Carex spp.), spike rushes

(Eleocharis spp.), jewelweed

(Impatiens capensis), rice cut-grass

(Leersia oryzoides), tearthumb

(Polygonum sagittatum), arrow arum

(Peltandra virginica), red maple (Acer

rubrum), skunk cabbage

(Symplocarpus foetidus), cattails

(Typha spp.), juneberry (Amelanchier

spicala), sphagnum moss (Sphagnum

spp.), and bulrushes (Juncus spp. and

Scirpus spp.). Tussock sedge (C.

stricta) and sphagnum moss is

commonly used for nesting and

basking.

Catch and Store Energy

• Water flows- Ebaugh’s Creek--Strong

current Streams—lining boundaries—

steady flow—experiment with using the

water from streams to power some

activities like plumbing water to

greenhouse

• Solar panels. Wind

• Insulate, Upcycle things with embedded

energy--greenhouse

Area 6 C and 9 —Health Promoting

Gatherings and maybe you pick mixed

berries

Area 6A Creative Response to Change Upcycle--Re-

cycled Community College Greenhouse from Minnesota

sent to us by farm partner—Sheltered place to work for

those who may need it --

Area 7 woods and 8 Forest Bathing and

Mushrooms

Major Asset of Farm—Shaw Stream

Areas 9 and 6 Colonial Medicinal and Raised

Beds—Kitchen Garden—Square Foot Gardens—

pear and cherry and blueberry

Area 10—Animal Buildings

Creative response to change • Use barns for crafts and

learning about farming

history and future

• Maybe for rescue—

see Pete Peacock

Farm Museum in old buildings--

1900, 1950, and 2011

Heirloom Apples—Part of forest

garden in area-11 • In the early 1800s, York County orchardist Jonathan Jessop

cultivated the York Imperial Apple, which was best known for its

great flavor that actually improved in storage

• Adapted to soil and climate in 1914 Smokehouse, Fallawater,

Stayman Winesap, and Grimes Golden

• Others planted are Baldwin, Jonathan, Rambo, Ben Davis, Rhode

Island Greening, Northern Spy, Hubbardston, Mammoth, Black

Twig, Gano, and Smith Cider

• Wild Apple –Malus ECOS

Robert Hart’s Garden Plan

Area 11 and area 17 ---large apple tree and some

nut trees, osage orange

21st. Century –Edible Forest Garden Plan--Jacke

and Toensmeier

Area 11 and 17 Try Others Ideas

Paw Paw Polyculture

Area 6 B –75 Osage Orange along driveway

and and 11A and 11B many volunteers in

horse pasture

• Widely planted as hedge –keep

livestock in thorns

• Insect repellant

• Native American used for bows-

strong orange wood ship building

Hedgerows --Filberts--Hazelnuts

• The Celts believed hazelnuts gave one

wisdom and inspiration. There are numerous

variations on an ancient tale that nine hazel

trees grew around a sacred pool, dropping

into the water nuts that were eaten by

salmon (a fish sacred to Druids) which

absorbed the wisdom. The number of spots

on the salmon were said to indicate how

many nuts they had eaten. A Druid

teacher, in his bid to become omniscient,

caught one of these special salmon and

asked a student to cook the fish but not to

eat it. While he was cooking it, hot liquid

from the cooking fish splashed onto the

pupil's thumb, which he naturally sucked to

cool, thereby absorbing the fish's wisdom.

This boy was called Fionn Mac Cumhail (Fin

McCool) and went on to become one of the

most heroic leaders in Gaelic mythology

Area 14--Integrate rather than segregate—Multiple

Functions

Companion Planting of Native Americans

• Companion planting was practiced in various forms by

the indigenous peoples of the Americas prior to the

arrival of Europeans. These peoples domesticated

squash first--8,000-10,000 years ago then maize, then

common beans, forming the Three Sisters agricultural

technique. The cornstalk would serve as a trellis for the

beans to climb, while the beans would fix nitrogen which

also benefited the corn. Sunflowers were also grown

along with beans as a trellis for them, or just to the north

of the Three Sisters, to draw away aphids.

Buffalobird-Woman’s Map of SE

Gardens

Corn, beans, squash pattern

Buffalo Woman’s Drawing of Stage

(woman sat on or under to watch and

protect crops—did crafts)

Varieties of Corn, Beans, and

Squash

Grow Varieties of Sunflowers

• Sunflower (Helianthus

annuus) is an annual plant

native to the Americas.

Sunflowers should be allowed

to mature in the garden. There

are several indicators of

maturity. The back of the

flower head will be brown and

dry; most of the yellow petals

will have dried and fallen; the

seeds will be plump; and the

seed coats will be black and

white striped

Medicine Wheel

Traditional Corn Field on border

of area 15 and 17—Needs more

buffer

15 and 17 area Experiment with

Green Manure and Composting • Green Manures

• Nitrogen fixers

(lucerne, red glover,

field beabs, white

clover, peas, lupin,

vetches)

• Other (Buckwheat,

mustanrd, yellow

trefoil, rye)

Most areas have invasives 1 to 17--Use edges and

value the marginal

Use small and slow solutions

• Plant hedgerows with

natives; Filberts,

choke cherries,

berries, elderberries,

jewel weed,

juneberry, marsh

mallow

• Use for crafts and

reduce invasives such

as bittersweet, wild

rose, common reed

• Made fences to keep

livestock out of fields

and on the farm

• Many invasives

growing in hedgerows

now—

• Coppice and graft

bradford pears

• Coppice willows in

wetlands, remove

Fences to keep livestock in –

replant

Areas 15 and 17--1970s Alternative Grow the 14 Foods

that can give complete diet in the 1000 square feet of

garden space in the Biointensive Demonstration Garden

1. Collards (kale,

broccoli, chard)

2. Parsley

3. Onions

4. Garlic

5. Parsnips

6. Potatoes

7. Sweet potatoes

8. Soy Beans

9. Wheat

10.Filberts/hazelnuts

11.Peanuts

12.Turnips

13.Leeks

14.Sunflowers From 1970s book--One Circle: How to

Grow a Complete Diet in Less Than

1,000 Square Feet By: David Duhon

Value diversity– Potatoes—field

17

• Blight related to propagation

through cuttings of small pool—

new varieties but in-bred

• 1846—Potato famine

• Great Revival 1850 and 1860’s

cross old deteriorating with wild

varieties from Mexico and South

America—Peru

• Early Rose—famous result

• Chester loam soil good for

potatoes

• Read more: http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-

gardening/heirloom-potato-varieties-

zewz1303zsch.aspx#ixzz2k4JsrpRc

Several varieties of heirloom potatoes. On

the left, Conestoga. The three large rose-

colored potatoes: Bliss’ Triumph. The pale

pink potatoes: Garnet Chile. The long,

narrow potatoes are Austrian Kipfelkrumpl.

The greenish example in the center is

intended to show a potato exposed to

sunlight; such potatoes are poisonous and

should never be eaten.

Most areas have Invasives

Slow and small solutions-- Invasive to Discourage

found on farm

1. Oriental Bittersweet

2. Chinese Silver Grass

3. Giant Hogweed

4. Giant Reed, Common Reed

5. Japanese barberry

6. Mutliflora rose

7. Wineberry (good to eat)

8. Winged Burning bush

9. Butterfly bush

10. Bradford pear

11. Norway maple

12. Tree of heaven

13. Creeping euonymus

Natives Found 1. Wild ginger

2. Wood fern, New York fern,green and gold

3. Wild geranium

4. Joe Pye Weed

5. Native Bamboo

6. Pasture rose, swamp rose

7. Blackberry, Raspberry

8. Red and black chokeberry

9. Inkberry

10. Winterberry

11. Sumac shining and smooth, staghorn

12. Hickory, oaks, beech, maples, black gum,

ash, walnut, sweet gum

13. Redbuds

14. Willow oaks

15. Red Cedar

16. Milkweed

2014 Action Plan

• Mushrooms --develop

• Grants==Transition to

organic, Aging, Dementia

prevention

• 4- Chears workshops

• Greenhouse up in 2014

• Shore up new barn for

use as classroom Yoga

etc.

• Coppice some osage and

willow

• Graft the Bradford pear—

or cut down in fields

• Plant hegerows along

neighbors corn fields

• Remove or cut back

some invasives and

replace with native

berries

• Maintain orchard

trees and plant

hierlooms

• Scions of heirlloms

order $3.00

Top Challenges

• People power to do this

• Invasives

• Mowing—just to keep up hard

• Time and interest

Obtain a Yield--Products

• Habitat for Turtles

• Goal –50 percent of personal food

• Environmental education and research—

gardens of past and future

• Nursery for heirloom, edible natives

• Opportunity for seniors to continue to contribute

and be integrated

• Reduce health care needed

• Improved quality of life