Visiting three different and inspiring homesteads this field trip has something for everyone. For those of you who have an interest in “low impact” and “small footprint” homestead,
Jim and Susan Cutting’s Homestead will feature a tour of some of their off-grid systems, They have many mounds, and have been grafting a bunch of trees. Susan can also talk about the
Belfast Transition initiative. Then a treat for perennial agriculture fans:
Mo Martin has been care taking his mountainside perennial homestead for many decades. While some of Mo’s plants came from nurseries, much of his focus has been on planting seeds and selecting from those plantings. He cultivates an incredibly wide diversity of fruits and nuts (some highlights include: a vast schisandra vineyard with over thirty plants all grown from seed, persimmon trees over thirty feet tall, enormous hardy kiwi vines, dozens of small fruit and berry varieties, and a wide array of nut species.) He has been humbly doing this work on his own for decades– this will be the first group tour ever of this incredible site. We have much to learn from him. We will end the day at a small-holding permaculture farm in Thorndike,
Many Hands Farm with lots to share about their family-scale efforts.