Blue Glade Farm: Our Second Year
In October 2021, my wife and I started a permaculture farm in Maryland. This is our second annual report.
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In May 2021, after six years in Los Angeles, my wife and I sold most of our belongings, packed up the car, and moved to Maryland. That October, we closed on a property in Frederick County. Our new home would be an 1890s farmhouse with a barn, several outbuildings, and 12 acres of mainly pasture. We named it Blue Glade Farm.
By applying permaculture and agroecological principles to the land, planting a diverse range of native species, both annual and perennial, minimizing to eliminating synthetic inputs and soil disturbance, and incorporating animals, our goal is to integrate our farm into the local ecological whole.
Results
In 2023, Blue Glade Farm’s total production was 265.8 pounds (120.6 kilograms) across 14 crops. This is an increase of ~84% over last year’s production of 144.3 pounds (65.4 kilograms).
Discussion
The biggest event on the farm this year was the birth of our first child. Of course, this beautiful dose of love and chaos limited the time and energy I could dedicate toward the farm. This stalled many projects and much garden maintenance, but my daughter is more important than the farm.
Despite this lovable ‘speedbump,’ I was happy with what progress we did make. The vision and plan for what the farm can be really started to come together this year. In February, I published our Master Plan (First Draft) seeking input and critique from everyone so that it could be improved. Thank you to everyone that shared their thoughts and ideas.
But all of this year’s progress wasn’t just planning, it included the beginning of several large projects that will each go a long way in building toward our plan and goals.
First, we started working with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and their 'Five Million Trees' initiative to 're-wild' ~10% of our land, including a 20ft riparian buffer along the creek (map below). They will plant it with site-specific native trees and we will maintain it as forest (i.e. no production agriculture). We consider this land an 'ecological tithe' to the area and the riparian buffer will help both prevent erosion along the creek and absorb nutrients from upstream, keeping the water clean.
Second, we were awarded a grant through the Natural Resources Conservation Service, an agency within the Department of Agriculture, for three projects:
a high tunnel that will allow for an extended growing season of fruits and vegetables.
a set amount of fencing, most of which will keep future animals out of the riparian buffer and creek
pressured water lines to our three fields (below) to more easily provide water to future animals as they rotate through the pastures and tree fields
But the coordination and planning surrounding these projects did not fully distract us from good, old-fashioned, hands-in-dirt farm work. Not only did we grow and plant dozens of trees (mainly chestnut, pawpaw, and persimmon) but we exponentially increased the size of the garden. This began last fall when I tarped 1200 sq feet of lawn in an effort to kill the grass before next spring. Then with lots of cardboard, compost, and sifted soil purchased from a local garden center, I was able to make two functional garden beds. One served for vegetables and sunflowers; the other for potatoes.
Overall, while there were some successes with the garden, my duties as a father placed significant constraints on the time I could dedicate to it, and by the middle of the season, the garden was a mess, somewhat to my embarrassment. While production technically increased, that was mainly just a few ‘low-touch’ crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes, and squash, plus the success of our mature apple trees. More ‘high-touch’ crops like tomatoes, peppers, and beans were essentially failures.
But losing in the annual game for a year is quite alright with me given the continued successful expansion of the perennials. Assuming everything survives this winter, we now have 45 chestnut, 23 pawpaw, and over a dozen of other tree and shrub crops (persimmon, peach, fig, hazelnut, etc.) that we have planted, plus about a dozen mature trees that were already here (two apples, six black walnuts, and a stand of hickories).
Combined with our other big projects, we are building and investing toward the future.
Methods
Planning
As previously mentioned, in February, I published our Master Plan (First Draft). We are not experts and are constantly seeking to improve our farm. We are genuinely open to any and all ideas, thoughts, comments, and suggestions.
Chemical Use
In 2023, we used zero pesticides, herbicides, or fungicides.
We used ~75% of a 4lb of Dr. Earth’s Organic Fertilizer to help jumpstart the new garden beds that we made, plus cycle some nutrients back into older beds. We also selectively treated with three different elemental compounds, all three of which are acceptable in organic agriculture.
Energy Use
Last year, I deflected on the farm’s electricity use because we only have one central meter and it is impossible to separate the farm’s use from the house’s. However, this year, I’ve decided to start tracking our total electricity use in order to provide a fuller accounting of our energy consumption.
This year, we used 17,741** KwH of electricity. This is more than the average American household (~10,632 KwH), however there are two important caveats. First, our house is fully electric, including HVAC and all appliances, and therefore uses more electricity but doesn’t directly consume any fossil fuels. Second, we do have the farm, and even if I’ll reiterate that the farm’s electricity use is currently de minimis, it is also non-zero.
The farm’s diesel use increased this year, mainly from increased mowing in the creek field, rather than leaving it fallow. In July, the county’s noxious weed board notified me that they weren’t pleased with the thistle in the creek field, thus I had to mow it and keep it mowed for the rest of the season.
Finally, I’ll briefly mention that while this is a full accounting of the farm’s direct energy consumption, it does not include the embodied energy of the supplies and materials that we purchase. For example, the steel T-posts that we use to stake trees required energy to mine, forge, and transport.
Over time, I expect our electricity use to increase from continually expanded farm operations and also (hopefully) expanded family size. We will continue to attempt to minimize it through things like solar-powered electric fencing. Fortunately, I hope that our diesel consumption will decrease over time, as rotationally grazing of cattle and other animals will accomplish much of the mowing.
Compost
Production of compost decreased this year, as compost production without machinery is very labor and time intensive. However, we were still able to make two large piles that will help cycle nutrients back into the garden and farm for years to come.
Goals
In last year’s annual report, I listed ten goals for 2023. We mostly or fully met seven of the ten goals. (The three failures were expanding the western hedge row, acquiring chickens and producing our first eggs, and expanding the compost system.)
Our goals for 2024:
Plant additional chestnut, pawpaw, hazelnut, and persimmon trees
Expand the western hedge row
Fence out the chicken yard, acquire chickens, and produce our first eggs
Acquire and build the high tunnel for the EQIP grant
Fully plan and coordinate the beginning of the pressured watering lines project
Apply for a Maryland Healthy Soils grant and the Maryland Agricultural Land Preservation Fund grant
Attend >50% of my county’s soil conservation district board meetings and try to become an associate supervisor
Clean up the tree lines and edges of the ‘creek field’ and ‘chestnut field’
Build a walking bridge over the creek
Get and install a farm sign
Thanks for reading Blue Glade Farm’s 2024 annual report! This year was an even bigger adventure than last year and I can’t wait to see our continued growth year after year, decade after decade. If you’re ever in Maryland, please stop by and say hello.
Compost - humanure. Being doing it for 15 years. Get the book!
But I had trouble with rats. So I built a carbon expensive concrete base, and masonry walls, timber one side and lid. Plastic pallet in the bottom, stainless mesh on top of that. Then poop/urine/sawdust and weeds and food waste. No turning. Leave for a year and start filling the one next to it. Not only great compost, but the liquid, diluted 5-10:1 is a fantastic feed. I missed out for years. Plants shoot up overnight with the liquid feed! Turns out, great as the compost is, the liquid is the most valuable asset. Really really makes things grow, including trees. 6-10'/year easy with peaches or walnuts (but not advised!)