The Corridor Project

 

The Wildlife Corridor is a 5 year project that came out of a desire to offset the negative impacts of agriculture to the greatest extent possible within the small peice of earth for which we serve as stewards (even organic farming requires disruption of natural systems) while enhancing our production.  Sounds counter intuitive, right?  But its certainly what we believe we have been able to do and we expect that this will only improve with time.

Our land was previously a sod farm.  This resulted in a diversity desert in which the topsoil was stripped off for many years, leaving heavy clay soils which would become waterlogged for days with any amount of rainfall.  We decided, with the help and consultation of the Natural Resources and Conservation Service and our friend and Landscape Architect David Hughes of Weatherwood Design, to carve out a portion of the lower field, build up berms, and create a water catchment area which would result in vernal pools, which would in term encourage wildlife and plant diversity.  In addition to moving soil, we planted a few hundred woody trees and shrubs, along with a few thousand plugs of herbaceous plants.  We followed this with seeding of native grasses and forbs to create a corridor of wildness, which extends from woodlot to woodlot, allowing for what will eventually be a forested area allowing for animal travel from one side of the farm to the other without having to come out from under the trees.  We also planted a warm season grass meadow which will mature to serve as habitat for ground nesting birds, rabbits, foxes, and lots of other creatures that so desperately need refuge in our urban and suburban landscape.

Our farm members made this all possible!  They came and worked on their days off and gave up Saturdays and weekdays to help with planting that would never have gotten done had it been left up to just us.

We are now entering our 4th season of investment in this 3 acre project.  Our goal for 2012 is to complete the plantings in the “upper corridor” which will provide a complete circle of native plants surrounding our vegetatable fields.  Some of the work will be in spring, but the bulk of the planting will be in the fall.  Meanwhile, maintenence of what was already planted will take up much of my free time throughout the summer.  My goal is to create a self sustaining system.  It’s a challenge.  I’ll keep you posted as I learn how to manage such a large project.