INHABIT: Willow Crossing Farm- a Productive Riparian Buffers Video Vignette

UPDATE!  There will be a special screening of the FULL FILM with cast and crew members APRIL 3 at the ROXY THEATRE in Burlington, VT- Stay tuned for more details and email us for advance ticket reservations.

Hi Folks!

I know we’ve been sending out a lot of plant sale announcements lately, so we just wanted to take a minute and THANK YOU for supporting our work!

Here’s a short vignette of our riverbank reforestation work captured on the water and created by filmmakers Costa Boutsikaris and Emmett Brennan captured last spring.

Enjoy!

Costa successfully funded the Northeastern Permaculture Documentary in 2012

with footage taken here with Prospect Rock Permaculture at Willow Crossing Farm.

http://kck.st/KaocHr

 

They are now fundraising for the finished product, which is looking incredible! Check it out:

We’ve put a few hundred more fruits, nuts, berries, vines in the ground this spring thanks to your support of our work!

Next week, we’ll begin design and installation for a Permaculture Plant Nursery at St. Michael’s College, while training the schools first Permaculture Design Certification Students!

I’ll be announcing a few public events if you’d like to come check out a film or speaker, meet the students, and network with some other professional growers, ecological designers, and builders.

Bare root Hybrid Hazelnuts, Black Locust, and Gooseberries are still available from the farm. A limited selection of all of our plants will be available in pots by appointment throughout the summer.

Stop by or give a call if you want to pitch in on some farm building or tree planting this spring, and otherwise I hope to be off the computer!

Peace and Trees!
Keith

Productive Riparian Buffers and Tree Crops Tour

The female flowers of a ‘Buartnut’, which have been hand pollinated by Butternut- giving us Vermont’s first ‘ButterBuarts’!

Hi Friends and Colleagues,

Here is a last minute invitation to any of you who may be interested in joining a small group of students, researchers, and folks with NOFA and UVM Extension for an informal tour of the ‘productive buffers’ and Tree Crops collection at Willow Crossing Farm in Johnson, VT.

As our rivers, riverside farms, and riverside towns are increasingly put to the test with erratic weather we look forward to contributing to the conversation about the health of our rivers and agricultural economy with over a decade of experience testing 100s of species of plants suitable for ‘productive buffers’ and productive floodplain reforestation.  This event is to prelude a larger event this fall, and a multi-day ‘Tree Crops Symposium’ scheduled for the late spring of 2013 with some of the world’s foremost experts in tree crops, nut production, agroforestry, and non-timber forest products.

Willow Crossing Farm (Prospect Rock Permaculture) has been dedicated to making floodplain reforestation profitable and ecologically regenerative since 2001.  Through combinations of native riparian plants with both native and rare nut, fruit, sugar, timber, and firewood producing trees, berries and medicinal herbs, we’ve worked to reforest our river’s corridors and flood prone sections of our farm aiming to prevent erosion; conserve soil and nutrients; shade waterways and improve water quality; create fish, wildlife, and pollinator habitat; and offset atmospheric carbon- all while adding to our long-term bottom line.

We grow many different varieties of plums, apples, cherries, pears, apricots, peaches, berries, paw paws, and over 17 species of nut trees.

Last summer, our systems were put to the test with two 500 year floods within 4 months and largely performed as designed- catching and diverting flotsam and protecting cultivated areas, greenhouses, and other farm infrastructure.  Now, we are inviting other farmers, and anyone interested in watershed health and the potential for ecologically regenerative and carbon-negative farming systems to take inspiration from our trials, and share in our mistakes, successes, and other information gained.

Please be in touch with Keith Morris (Keith@ProspectRock.org or (802) 734-1129) if you are interested in attending.

Please feel free to share with students or other potentially interested contacts or networks.

Best,
Keith