Contact hours: 70 Yestermorrow Design/Build School Farm Design Vermont has long been a pioneer in Sustainable and Regenerative Agriculture. Some of our farmers have been organically certified for well over 30 years. The burgeoning local farm and food movement here is powerful and impressive. This class is an opportunity to take a first hand, in depth, look at some of the most avant-garde, pioneering farms, farmers and value added food producers in this country. This class will spend much of its time touring these farms and giving attendees the chance to chronicle the farm operations, observe how they are organized and constructed, and to ask questions of the farmers and owners. In our experience, nothing educates as well as successful models. We will cover the wide range of topics that relate to the many systems involved in the local food production. The studio experience will be an opportunity to imagine, prioritize, and plan a farm infrastructure and system of your own, whether an actual farm you plan to develop or a dream farm you might imagine. Students are encouraged to bring a design project to the class to workshop through the weeks. In the event you have no concrete project to work on the instructors will help you to design a theoretical farm project. Farm visits, presentations, and guest lectures will provide first hand opportunities to see how others have taken on the noble challenge of building a farm. Farms featured in previous classes have included, Butterworks Farm, Essex Farm, Green Mountain Girls Farm, Vermont Compost Company, and many more. This course is aimed at those involved, or aspiring to be involved in community integrated, local farms and food production. Previous attendees have gone on to develop Farm Design Studios in their architecture firms, or start farms of their own. Others have spent their studio time working on their dreams and visions--to develop a farm tourism destination, build a brewery and distillery, and much more.
Course Objectives Visioning & Programming Site Analysis Intro to design theory and practices Expanding knowledge of Farm development Fun Materials to Bring - Below is a short list of items that will be needed for the class. Please contact us for a more detailed discussion about the project data you will need to bring. Project Data - information from your farm / site / structures -Maps, pictures, soil maps, history, etc. Sketch pad / notebook Pencils and pens Digital Camera (optional) Lap top (optional) Work Clothes outdoor / indoor Tentative Schedule (subject to massive change) Overview Arrive for a Sunday welcome dinner.
Week 1 Mon- Introductions; Foreshadowing course and individual expectations; Review studio projects; Big picture - history, site, climate, bioregionalism, & ecology. Tues- Site and Landscape (farm visits) Wed- Programming - Animal, Vegetable or Mineral products Thurs-The Handmade Farm (visit to a year-round, all-around CSA) Community Integrated Farming (visit to a farming network) Fri- Mass and Energy Flow - Composting, Permaculture, and Gravity (visit to the miracle of soil production) Sat- Mid-week design review & visit to Farmers Markets (if open yet!) Sun- Relax(not really, work on your studio project Week 2 Mon- Animal Infrastructure: dairy, meat, paddocks and fencing, barns Tues- Vegetable Infrastructure: greenhouses, high tunnels, coldframes, rootcellars (farm visits) Wed- Community Interface - local food movement, farm economics, labor Thurs-Complete Projects, both personal and class
Fri- Presentations of design projects, wrap up Typical Day am Studio time (optional) 8 am Breakfast 9 am Noon Morning session Noon- 12:45 Lunch 12:45 5:00 pm Afternoon session 6:00 7:00 pm Dinner Evening Evening activity, guest lecture or optional studio time Weather and the interests of the group will guide how we specifically tackle the topics with presentations, discussions, and farm visits being integrated into the course in the most logical fashion we can muster. Please understand that this is a tentative schedule and the actual schedule will evolve somewhat to fit both the class attendees and the guests speakers and field trip location availabilities. These topics will be woven into the greater context of sustainable agriculture and intelligent ecological design/build, as well as varied techniques to organize and present design concepts. Big Picture History Climate Change Ecology
Bioregionalism Site Site Planning Landscape - Water and soils Weather, micro-climates Program Master planning Goals, hopes & needs Resiliency Mass & energy flow Composting Permaculture on the farm Ecological design Infrastructure Inventions Yankee Ingenuity, small farm equipment, etc. Fencing, paddocks Small Dairy Small sheds / outbuildings / Coops Barnyards Barns Renovation & new construction Root Cellars
Greenhouses, coldframes, etc. Energy Efficiency basics of building science Community Interface Local food movement Farm economics Safety Housing / Labor Heroes and resources Much Much more Readings Farm design is an enormous and diverse topic which has not had a book that comprehensively covers it since the 19th century. Below is an annotated bibliography of some of our favorites. Please contact us if you want a specific recommendation for your interests. Books - History sir albert howard -a soil testament king farmers for 40 centuries pollan omnivores dilemma Water
o Water Storage Art Ludwig- He has a great intro with a set of design principals that are well worth the read. Livestock / husbandry o Salad Bar Beef Joel Salatin o Small Scale Livestock Farming Carol Ekarius Permaculture o Edible Forest Gardens: Ecological Design for Temperate Climate Permaculture - Dave Jacke with Eric Toensmeier Design Theory o Cradle to Cradle - William McDonough and Michael Braungart o Pattern Language - Christopher Alexander o An example of architecture touching agriculture comes from Pliny Fisk and The Center For Maximum Potential Building Systems. As an architect Fisk has taken on the responsibility of creating many forward thinking projects. Most relevant to this work is The Laredo Blueprint Demonstration Farm, constructed in Laredo, Texas in 1990, [which] employs a flexible building system designed to respond to farmers changing needs due to climatic variation, market demand, and added value potential. o Dwellings - Paul Oliver and Marcel Vellinga of the Oxford Brookes University School of the Built Environment s International Vernacular Architecture Unit (IVAU), through extensive research and publications, look at the way in which vernacular traditions are of fundamental importance to the sustainable development of the world's built environment. They also examine the transmission of indigenous, traditional and vernacular skills, expertise and knowledge.
o Sustainable landscape design is a field with much to offer the pursuit of a sustainable agriculture environment. Landscape Architect John Tillman Lyle in Regenerative Design for Sustainable Development and Design for Human Ecosystems, provides excellent examples and analytic tools for the organization of a healthy and productive landscape, with many direct references to food production. E. Gregory McPherson, editor and contributor to Energy Conserving Site Design, looks specifically at how site design can inform and assist the challenge of energy conservation. The first chapter, A History of Microclimatic Modification 1600-1980, by John R. Stilgoe (as well as Stilgoe s book Common American Landscape) utilizes examples from predominately agricultural land-use techniques in European descended America. Housing o Homing Instinct John Connell The Yestermorrow original, this book is a must for owner-design/builders. o Insulate and Weatherize Bruce Harley If you are renovating an old farm house, then this book will save you money and heartache. A great text for energy efficient retrofits. Periodicals Acres USA: The Voice of Eco-AgriCulture Small Farm Journal Stockman GrassFarmer