Homestead Paradise: got barren land, boosted it at a profit

In the early 90s, Mark and Jen Shepard bought a degraded corn farm in Viola, Wisconsin, and began to slowly convert it from row-crops back to a native oak savanna that would become one of the most productive perennial farms in the country.

After 8 years of homesteading in Alaska (arriving just as the Homestead Act was expiring) where they had been forced by low-paying jobs to discover “which trees, shrubs, bushes, and vines we could get food from”, they arrived in the Driftless Area of Wisconsin ready to apply their knowledge of permaculture (“permanent agriculture”).

Over the past nearly three decades, Mark has planted an estimated 250,000 trees on the 106-acre farm. The main agroforestry crops are chestnuts, hazelnuts, and apples, followed by walnut, hickory, cherry, and pine (for the nuts). For short-term income, the couple planted annual crops, like grains and asparagus, in alleys between the fruit-and-nut-bearing trees. Cattle, pigs, lambs, turkeys, and chickens act as pest control and free composters as they roam the savannas of the farm.

Not content to rely on commercially-produced seeds, Mark does his own breeding to find the best-adapted trees to his region using the method he’s dubbed STUN (Sheer Total Utter Neglect). He plants trees at a higher density than recommended and with as much diversity as possible (at one point they were farming 219 varieties of apples) and then lets pests and disease run their course. He fells diseased trees or those that don’t bear enough, or early enough, fruit. The result is orchards hardy enough to survive even Chestnut Blight.

As more and more of the alley crops have been replaced with trees and pocket ponds to help manage water on the farm, the land here has returned to the native savannas where the mastodon once grazed 12,000 years ago (in 1898 bones were discovered 5 miles down the road).

New Forest Farm has inspired many other perennial farms, especially chestnut farmers in the region, and Mark hopes that every schoolchild will plant their own apple seeds (and perhaps subject them to STUN) and that every family can plant a backyard food forest.

*German subtitles kindly provided by Jochen Schilk. Danke!

[nphotodotorg]

We should make this guy the Secretary of the U.S. Dept of Agriculture! He can feed us healthy food and protect the environment!

[wafiqessop]

As an agronomist I can confirm this gentleman is a genius, him and all those who helped.

[unprove]

If I knew farming could look like this, I would have gone into it instead of programming. That's a beautiful farm.

[Eveseptir]

This man talked for an hour almost non-stop and I was hooked on every word.

[shaunpatrick]

They did that in 23 years, so we're 1 generation away from having this all over the world, if that's what we choose. Think about how much carbon it stores and how few chemicals it needs!

[Thoughmuchistaken]

It's been a depressing few years around me, lot's of farms bulldozing fencerows of shrubs and trees, just for a couple more acres of corn or soy. The importance of folks like Mark and Jen can't be overstated.

[LollyJK]

This is the most beautiful area we have here in WI. I was not aware this type of farming was taking place. For the last 16 years, I've lived across the road from 150 acres I've only seen planted with corn and beans. Beginning this year, I will be planting agroforestry crops on my 2 little acres. Thank you for this education.

[brunojulio]

The amount of knowledge per minute (kpm) from this gentleman is staggering

[kgs]

I loved when he said “We have ENOUGH”. So many farmers (and Ag companies) want or need more, more, more. If more growers could do this with “enough” we could save the planet, grow healthier food (vegetables, grains AND livestock) and have a more beautiful life. And, as he states, we can do it by working less, but smarter. And the trees will be stronger and healthier to increase longevity. What a beautiful concept, and imminently workable and easy to replicate almost everywhere.

[alalmaoui]

This is truly a paradise.
Permaculture at its best.
Blessed!

[PlanetMojo]

Wow! I am restoring an oak savanna just a few miles from these people! They are in a much flatter area, our land varies by over 120 feet with 35 acres. Small world 😊

[woodchip]

Now THAT is Paradise to me!😊 Your movie should be shown in school classes.

[hohlwelt]

Who would have thought that a tour of Mark and Jen's farm with its oak, walnut and apple trees, ponds and tadpoles could be so exciting?! Its wonderful how knowledgable he is, and his enthusiasm is infectious. Really impressive. Thank you, Kirsten, and of course Mark and Jen.

[emg.]

Im going to do this. I don't know how or when or if it is possible for me but I yearn with my whole being to do something like this. I'm 22, and I suffer from depression and I'm lost and directionless and pretty near destitute. Lately I've been struggling to even see the point in being a part of society, but seeing these people and people like this who are making a change has really lit something up inside me. Like it's possible to make a difference even if it's small. If everyone followed that little thread in them then the world would be a beautiful place. Thanks so much for sharing these videos Kirsten.

[niklashbg]

Imagine all farmers being this ambitious, knowledgeable and curious.

[Aidenjh]

I called my whole family together to watch this. Thank you so much for producing it. I struggle for words to describe how moving this couple's life-work is. Well done.

[feestuart]

He has spread risks and made the land more fertile. I'll bet those cattle and pigs taste so good too after eating all that fruit and nuts! Well done farmer.

[AmericanDrinker]

This entire video is DENSE with this man's wisdom from a lifetime of living doing permaculture. This is a gem

[sambassil]

Vast, extreme and in-depth knowledge. This man is a treasure. Let’s put him in charge of forestry and natural resources

[cshendge]

I had the good fortune to grow up on a large plot of land where my grandparents used to farm. They turned it into a golf course 60 years ago but kept many of the perennials. The course made the cash, the plants fed the extended family and community. We had a few apple orchards, mulberries, black berries, ras berries, blue berries, pears, peaches, buckeyes, cherries, fish, ducks, geese, wild deer & turkey, and a small traditional vegetable patch every summer. The whole thing was designed to work in conjunction with the business. Very few if any chemicals. Just pruning, watering, and fertilizer. Many wild sections throughout our property. We were surrounded by farms that were all failing and being sold off. When the business took a turn in 08', long story, we were forced to sell. The property is now cheaply built cookie cutter housing. The contractors had no idea they cut down a 80yo apple orchard that supplied the local market. I fully appreciate what my family was attempting to do. The ponds and lakes weren't just decorations. They fed the land. The wild unkept areas were there to preserve the land. Granted we were not nearly on the scale that these people have achieved but along the same path. This sort of farming is possible and profitable.