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Farmers Head Into the Woods news & ideas for local growers Volume 29 / Number 9 October 2020 since 1992 Farmers head into the woods Agroforestry growing as a way to diversify farms By Jane Tanner able grants and reimbursements to Yet, loss of wholesale customers encourage cultivation and protection like Whole Foods sent Sawyer into the At Windy Hill Farm in Elk Creek, of forest plants. The Virginia De- woods. He harvests armfuls of sting- Virginia, Michelle Pridgen’s main partment of Agriculture reimbursed ing nettle (Urtica dioica) that grows crops are winter and spring high tun- Pridgen for about half the cost of or- in the woods to bring in about $100 a nel greens, along with tomatoes, pep- ganic certification of the cohosh and week in sales to a local herbalist, chefs pers and flowers. Years ago, she went Appalachian Sustainable Develop- who use them in soups (although into the woods on the property to ment reimbursed the Forest Grown restaurants sales have dropped dur- move some black cohosh (Actaea rac- Certification expenses. ing COVID-19), along with market emosa) into an ornamental perennial As Pridgen dug up the black co- customers who cook and eat them border but never considered it a cash hosh, she simultaneously replanted like spinach. Blanching removes the crop. Then, a Virginia Tech doctoral roots with growth nubs to regenerate stinging properties. student persuaded her to participate it. More than 70 percent of the re- Sawyer converted a used bakery in a trial to prove certified sustain- planting took; it also self-seeds well. proofing oven into a dehydrator by able forest crops fetch much higher She waits at least three years between adding a 1500-watt toaster oven ele- prices than wild harvested plants like harvests and plans to move the black ment and increasing ventilation with cohosh that are losing habitat and are cohosh back from the perennial bor- two-inch holes in the top of the cabi- overharvested. der. She’s considering starting a patch net. “I personally like to reach 140 de- In 2015, Pridgen earned $25 a of goldenseal (Hydrastis canadensis) grees for about 15 minutes to ensure pound from Mountain Rose Herbs in her forest. most bacteria is killed even if I slow in Oregon for Forest Grown Certi- Chris Sawyer at Jake’s Farm in dry with lower temps,” he said. Herb- fied dried black cohosh root, 25 times western North Carolina didn’t con- alists prefer dried herbs and Sawyer more than wild harvested root. How- sider forest crops until GAP rules cut also dehydrates strawberries and oth- ever, Pridgen broke even because she his lucrative wholesale sales. His farm er crops. didn’t understand post-harvest han- complied with all the rules but one: Muscadine grapes grow in the dling and over washed it, over dried dogs. The dogs suppress voles, moles trees on the forest edge, and farther it and meticulously pulled off the root and rabbits that thrive on his isolated into the canopy Sawyer is starting a hairs, which could have stayed on. wooded property. Jake’s Farm con- patch of giant Solomon’s seal (Polygo- A few years later, she sold anoth- tinues to sell at tailgate markets and natum biflorum). He participated in er batch to Mountain Rose at $60 a grows greens all winter along with a several ginseng (Panax quinquefo- pound and came out well-ahead with long list of vegetables, sweet cherries, lius) workshops and anticipates get- lower labor time. For both sales, she strawberries and figs in fields and two ting that going. A plant expert helped also benefitted from the widely avail- 6,000-square-foot-greenhouses. him identify yellowroot (Xanthorhiza Garlic planting / 7 Compost sifter and spreader / 14 Observations for quality flowers / 24 GROWING FOR MARKET / OCTOBER 2020 1 Left: Chris Sawyer of Jake’s Farm harvesting stinging nettle. Photo by Courtney Gryzb. Right: Dried ginseng root ready for sale. Photo courtesy of Terry Black. simplicissima) and mayapples (Podophyllum peltatum) al- sassafrass; orchards in areas transitioning back to forest, ready growing in the woods, and he plans to expand those. such as polyculture layering of tall trees (e.g., chestnut) “It’s something to keep your crew busy when they’re in be- and smaller trees (pawpaw and persimmons) and even tween crops,” Sawyer said. “There’s undiscovered money trees inoculated with truffles; riparian buffers, where in the woods, like treasure hunting.” commercially valuable shrubs like witch hazel do well; Agroforestry — combining agriculture and trees in alley cropping; and silvopasture, combining animals and sustainable systems — is a large umbrella that covers agriculture. plants under the tree canopy; saps and syrups; forest-edge Areas ill-suited for other crops can work well. Eric loving crops such as elderberry, raspberry, sumac, and Nelson, who has a vineyard outside Lincoln, Nebraska, Growing for Market is published 10 times Start your own GFM subscription! per year by Tomatero Publications, Inc., PO Box 75, Here’s how to subscribe: Skowhegan, Maine 04976 To get GFM by mail Order a Print Subscription at www.growingformarket.com Print edition by mail: ISSN 1060-9296 or phone 800-307-8949 or send a check to GFM, PO Box 75, Volume 29, Number 9, $39 for 1 year / $69 for 2 years / $97 for 3 October 2020 years. To Canada, $60 for 1 year / $115 for 2 Skowhegan, Maine 04976 $39 for 1 year, $69 for 2 years, $97 for years / $165 for 3 years; $76 for one year to all 3 years. © 2020 Tomatero other countries. All orders in U.S. dollars. Publications, Inc. To read GFM online All rights reserved. Electronic edition: Download each issue as a PDF for $30/year. No portion of this maga- $30 for 1-year subscription Download each issue AND have unlimited access to the archive zine may be copied in Full Access: of everything published from 2001 to the present for $79/year. any manner for use other than by the subscriber $79 for 1-year online subscription plus Register at www.growingformarket.com access to archives without permission from To get GFM by mail + access the online archive the publisher. Full Access Plus: Download each issue as a PDF, have access to the archive, and $99 for 1-year online subscription plus access Editor and Publisher to archives and print editions receive a printed copy of each issue by mail. $99/year. Register Andrew Mefferd at www.growingformarket.com Associate Editor Display Advertising: Rate sheet 20% off books - how to get the discount Ann Mefferd available at www.growingformarket.com Your subscription, print or online, entitles you to a 20% discount Founder or phone 800-307-8949. on all the books we sell at growingformarket.com. To get the Lynn Byczynski Classified Advertising: Send with payment before the 7th of the discount, you must log in on the home page using the words Layout & Design print and member in the two login fields. Once you see the Erin Scally month. 50 cents per word for subscribers; $1 for non-subscribers. screen that says “You’re logged in!” click Online Store in the left Office Manager column. You should see the regular price of books crossed out Scott Price See our web site for available back issues and with the discounted price above it. If you do not, click on the Editing market farming books. banner to return to the home page and start again. If you have Jane Tanner problems, just call us to order. Field Correspondent Contact us: Free Ebooks Megan Robertson Email: [email protected] “Farm Fresh Recipes” is a free, downloadable Ebook for Contributing Editors Web: www.growingformarket.com Phone: 207-474-5518 subscribers that provides reproducible recipe cards for fresh Gretel Adams Toll-free phone: 800-307-8949 produce. “Extending the Season” is a 52-page collection of Pam Dawling articles about season extension. Log in using the information Jane Tanner Mail: GFM, PO Box 75, Skowhegan, ME 04976 above, and scroll down to find the links. 2 GROWING FOR MARKET / OCTOBER 2020 planted curly willow and cardinal, “In many cases, harvesting timber vor and can be used in many ways, as red and yellow twig dogwoods on two won’t be worth putting that land out spice powders, in vinegars, soups and odd-shaped acres that wouldn’t work of commission for many years. Using blended in butters. for grapes. Some trees that went in 20 the shade of the canopy is a great way The Beegles also used NRCS years ago are still producing. Nelson to retrieve value out of those lands,” funding to set up silvopasture for 10 is part of Nebraska Woody Florals, a he said. steers. Dana, who has an agroforest- cooperative of nine growers produc- The conservation value of leaving ry master’s from Virginia Tech, also ing woody stems for local wholesalers. trees intact and practicing agroforest- plans to use another silvopasture ap- Nelson averages $5,000 gross income ry is high, including reduced soil ero- proach: chickens to reduce weed and a year selling stems to the co-op. sion and higher soil and water quality. insect pressure among asparagus and In addition to florals, agroforestry The Natural Resources Conservation blueberry plants. “Agroforestry is a crops include food and medicinals. Service offers financial support for missing piece when you are learning This article covers options outside of putting in forest and edge crops, ed- beginning farming practices,” Dana mushrooms. GFM covered mush- ible buffers and other practices. Jon said. “Why not learn how to farm rooms in January 2016 and has future and Dana Beegle at Stone Root Farm your understory?” mushroom articles planned.
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