Holistic Ecosystem Design
Client Vision And Goals: To rehabilitate a former pine plantation and create an abundant farmstead that works with nature to support the spiritual, emotional, and physical health and prosperity of their family. To establish systems and living processes that are resilient to extreme weather, natural disasters and failure of externally sourced inputs. Soil restoration and healthy water management create the foundation for a wildly abundant ecosystem that brings wholeness of life to all who visit, work and live on the land. Check out the latest and greatest @WildBergamotFarm on Instagram.
Whole Site: Existing Conditions / Design Map
Design Elements
- Water
- Stabilization of large headcut (10′ wide x 6′ deep) threatening to incise the main creek on the property with a zuni bowl built in tandem with an armored fill crossing to provide 4-season vehicle access to the pastures across a perennially wet location.
- Drainage improvements to the existing driveway to eliminate puddling and rut formation, including rolling dips, an armored drain, a flatland drain and a retrofitted culvert.
- Livestock watering ponds with rock ramps throughout the silvopasture paddocks for direct-access self-watering by sheep, goats and cattle.
- Recreational pond next to the barn and zone 1 living areas, with integrated chinampa gardens and water gardens.
- Development of a spring higher up on the property to provide year-round gravity pressurized water to the various living and working areas.
- Access
- Installation of a central pasture access road to provide 4-season vehicle access to all the main silvopasture paddocks and the zone 2 growing areas with greenhouse, no-smell pig pen, chicken coop and main crop garden.
- Fencing recommendations for adaptive livestock management – 5-strand hi-tensile electric perimeter fencing and electrified tree tubes for establishing silvopasture by addition.
- Decommissioning of high-maintenance, eroded roadways to restore watershed function and decrease erosion maintenance on lower road surfaces.
- Structures
- Dedicated commercial building to house the growing biomagnetism practice and future farm store.
- Greenhouse for season extension.
- Sorting/receiving corral for livestock handling.
- Site identification for future home sites and AirBnb/glamping locations.
- Living Systems
- Soil Building & Fertility
- Nutrient cycling systems including vermicompost, biochar and compost tea to improve heavy, waterlogged soils prone to developing anaerobic conditions.
- Utilizing Korean Natural Farming techniques to create a no-smell confinement chicken/duck coop for eggs and seasonal protein yields.
- Adaptive grazing management.
- Species recommendations for a nutrient trap crop to be planted over the shallow septic leach field that will absorb any effluent that daylights (percolation is a problem, field is only semi-functional).
- Biogas as a solid waste treatment alternative to traditional septic and leach fields.
- Food Production
- Silvopasture paddocks with tree crops for animal forage and fodder as well as human consumption and sale through the farm store.
- Contour hugelkultur beds for perennial fruit production to create elevated, better draining soil in an otherwise waterlogged area.
- Kitchen garden and greenhouse for seasonal annual production.
- Chinampa gardens integrated with pond edges to provide self-irrigating, self-fertilizing, elevated growing space in an otherwise waterlogged area.
- Live staking aquatic system edges to improve bank stability and produce perennial food for pigs, ruminants, fish and poultry.
- Dwarf fruit tree orchard to maintain usability of yard space and maintain solar access to the home during winter mornings; cold-climate poultry recommendations for eggs and meat yields; log-grown culinary mushrooms from on-site woodlot harvests.
- Privacy Plantings
- Site-specific species recommendations for evergreen “fedge” (food producing hedge) shielding the customer / client parking area from the residential areas, and provide a beautiful edge to define public vs. private space.
- Beauty
- Japanese inspired water garden in front of the barn apartment to provide a beautiful foreground view, increase dry usable area and improve drainage to the Barn Pond.
- Soil Building & Fertility
- Economy
- Grass-fed and pastured meat and live animal production for sale locally and to chefs further afield.
- Value-added nutrient cycling products (inoculated biochar, compost tea, worm castings and live worms etc) for enterprising young men growing up on the farm.
- U-Cut flowers as part of a farm membership program.
- AirBnb / Glamping short term rentals for people to enjoy the beauty of the place and the cutting edge workings of an ecological farmstead.
Zones 1 & 2: Existing Conditions / Design Map
Silvopastures: Existing Conditions / Design Map
Passive Water Harvesting Elements in future Silvopasture Paddocks
