Dean’s Mountain Farm

Location: Moretown, Vermont
Project Start Date: 2003

Project Concept:

Whole Systems Design (WSD) is a small design/build company located in the lower Mad River Valley of Vermont. Dean’s Mountain Farm is headquarters for WSD’s ongoing research and development of low/no input perennial farming, natural building and renewable energy systems. The primary challenges facing long term valuable land use development of the site are:

• Seasonal very high water table
• Eroded thin clay soils with shallow depth to bedrock and large boulders

We consider the restoration of degraded cold climate landscapes the backdrop of our work and are focused at Dean's Mountain Farm on soil building, crop diversity, water harvesting and water gardening/farming, wet-land agriculture and natural building systems using site-based materials. Systems that can withstand acute climate events such as flood and drought also form the focus of much of our work.

Detailed Project Description:

Dean’s Mountain Farm is a diverse homestead and proving ground in Moretown, Vermont focused on the design and research of regenerative human habitats. The property also hosts interns, visiting permaculture courses, client teams, and offers guided tours for local residents.

The site is located between 900 and 1050 feet above sea level with varied slopes between 4 and 12% grade. Predominant aspect of the slopes are west-southwest. Soils are usually shallow depth to bedrock and are almost totally composed of gravelly-clay with large boulders present and a fluctuating high water table. Due to these challenging conditions we have focused heavily on wet-hardy plants, swaling, mounding, hugel-culture, and aquaculture for garden and farm systems.

Moretown, Vermont lies in a cold temperate climate, USDA hardiness zone 4, with the coldest temperatures recorded on site in the past 5 years between -20 to -26ºF. Average rainfall is approximately 45-50 inches per year, prevailing winds come from the west and the typical growing season lasts approximately 110 days per year.

The site is ten acres of wet field and forest that are transitioning into an edible landscape of fruit and nut trees, small nursery, fish ponds, fuelwood hedges, wet-land crops, forest, pasture, vegetable/herb gardens, micro-pasture, residences and work spaces. There are currently over 60 species and varieties of tree, shrub, and vine crops cultivated at Dean’s Mountain Farm. Other yields include mushrooms, fish, fuelwood, medicinal herbs, eggs, and ‘wild’ edibles. In order to extend the growing season and buffer climatic extremes, microclimate development via earthworks for ponds, wetlands and swales serve as a backdrop to most farm systems on the property.

WSD’s studio at Dean’s Mountain Farm is housed in a dual-purpose design-build space that attempts to use the best in sustainable ecological design and construction. The entire timber frame and a majority of the lumber used in the construction of the building were harvested, horse-drawn, and milled from the site itself. The building serves as an inspirational setting for design and construction activities and for hosting meetings with student, client and local resident groups. Additional structures on site include a cedar-shingled wood-fired sauna and a two bedroom residence.

Project Duration & Schedule:

Earthworks began in 2003 with construction of water harvesting swales and one pond at the top of the property. Planting began in spring of 2004 with plum trees, nut trees, cover crops and vegetable gardens. Construction of the WSD studio/shop occurred in 2008, which included significant earthworks, pond installation and planting.

The next developments for 2009 onward include:

• micro-grazing of ducks, chickens, pigs and goats
• continued aquaculture on-site food production
• swaling of a 2 acre field and willow planting
• more mushroom crop development
• continual fuelwood hedge planting of R. pseudoacacia and A. rugosa
• continual living fence planting of H. rhamnoides and R. pseudoacacia
• a small rice paddy for O. S. japonica
• pyrolisis device construction and continual biochar production
• a greenhouse
• continual orchard understory guild development
• patch cutting in the hardwood forest

One of the main research projects underway involves an attempt to figure out how many lineal feet of fuelwood hedge is needed to produce a given cord of wood for heating uses. We foresee a major fuelwood supply crunch in the coming years in cold and very cold climates of the United States. Another primary project on site is the general development of marginal land agriculture systems that can garner a reliable yield from poor soil lands with high water tables in cold climates.

Project Needs:

Primary needs are funding for the ongoing research and dissemination of information both locally and worldwide. We are always looking for collaborators with applicable expertise in all areas to help in these developments.