C E R T I F I E D O R G A N I C

Rural life in New England has been in decline since the 19th century. The prime pasture and cropland is converted to subdivisions and trailer parks. Quality timber is shipped overseas from large tracts of land managed for mechanized logging. The customs of town meeting and cooperation are fading into history, much like the railway beds that once provided transportation in this region. There is no local job market, while second home investments in the area contribute to the rise of property tax.

Life for small farmers in New England has always been difficult, even more so now with global competition and industrial agriculture forcing down food commodity prices. The survival of the landscape, a sustainable way of living and an appreciation of tradition are all in jeopardy unless we pursue innovative methods to diversify the farm economy and cooperate on a local level.

We are located in Dorchester, New Hampshire, where the population is approximately 350, and there are no stoplights or convenience stores. As a bedroom community, the town residents generally either work in the woods or commute up to four hours to work as a single passenger in an automobile. Timber value fluctuates based on unsteady international markets, thus dramatically affecting the need for workers. Wal-Mart is the second largest employer in the local university town, but no one seems to be working full time with benefits. The land is rock and scrabble, cleared during the 1800s for the wool market that collapsed after the Civil War. The soil is thin and the winter is long. It provides a wonderfully challenging opportunity for an innovative agriculture and community project.

D Acres of New Hampshire is a non-profit organic farm and homestead. The mission of the organization is to function as an educational center by researching, applying, and teaching skills of sustainable living and small-scale organic farming. The idea is to work cooperatively to undertake many of the roles of a small farm within the larger community. The project serves as a community center and producer of agricultural products. Instead of facing the common farm dilemma of seeking work offsite to supplement income, we are looking for creative ways to stimulate on-farm economics. Many of these endeavors include cottage crafts made from onsite renewable resources. D Acres of NH serves as a model of the modern small farm in New England. The economic and social possibilities of the farm as a center for healthy food, face to face communication, education, goods and services are endless. The vision of this farm is to provide stewardship for the rural landscape while also serving the needs of the community.

D Acres stands for Development Aimed at Creating Rural Ecological Society. The idealistic vision is to combine the positive aspects of traditional and current technologies, producing a simple yet comfortable standard of living. This involves a great deal of conservation and adaptation, in order to reduce our fossil fuel consumption and overall impact on the land. A major facet of this process is the use of consensus, enabling individuals to cooperatively pursue these ideals.

The D Acres concept incorporates theory and practice from many outside sources. Traditional methods used by The Shakers of this region provide an example of a communal living situation that produced value added goods. Thriving community-based organizations such as The Farm and Earthaven have provided guidance and inspiration through models of cooperative rural development. Hands-on experience participating in projects located on islands in the Caribbean and the San Juans has provided perspective on self-sufficiency and community collaboration. The design ideas offered in Permaculture Magazine have helped plan the physical landscape. The farming system includes ideas from biodynamic, edible landscaping, French Intensive and lasagna gardening. Generally, our system is to research alternatives until suitable practices can be applied to each situation.

The organization is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which is overseen by a Board of Directors. The project budget is submitted annually to the Board for approval. The Trought family owns the property and structures. Since we are uncertain about the future, flexibility in land use for further agricultural and residential community infrastructure development outweighs the tax reductions or possibility of a land trust. Day-to-day operations are organized in a way conducive to a consensus format at weekly meetings. There are currently three staff members, as well as a fluctuating number of interns and residents living on site throughout the year. The staff members put hours of labor into the project with the belief that this system has a future. These residents seek an agrarian way of life in a beautiful environment. We are blessed with active participants who have been involved in the project for many years.

Forest is the primary landscape feature of the farm. In addition to clean air and water, the forest’s trail system is a resource for recreational activities such as hiking and biking in the summer and skiing and snowshoeing in the winter. Timber is hauled by the oxen, then cut and graded for furniture, lumber, or firewood. Tree branches are chipped for mulch and used onsite. The value added goods from the forest are processed in the woodshop of the community building. Practical crafts from the forest include wooden spoons and white birch bark picture frames. These activities generate on-farm income, while serving as practical experience for learners in basic skills like chopping firewood and woodworking.

Although the growing season is short, the gardens at D Acres supply nourishment, medicine, and endless resources for craft products throughout the year. The no-till gardens consist of a series of mulched beds, shaped by the natural terrain and connected by a path system. In accordance with forest gardening design concepts, trees and shrubs have been planted throughout the garden. We utilize spatial possibilities and interplanting of compatible species, which are methods often overlooked in conventional row cropping. We use trellises to grow vertically and provide shade, windbreaks, and control evaporation where desired. We are supplementing the clay loam consistency of the soil by adding organic material and encouraging dynamic accumulators like dandelion and comfrey.

The design of the perennial garden is for annually increased production as species mature. We have invested in planting small fruit and nut trees that will not produce maximum yields for many years. Mushrooms and herbaceous edibles are also long-term ventures. The intention is to build a garden system that perpetuates instead of an annual system that requires massive inputs of energy each year.

The garden also provides many sources of services and income. The beautiful scene attracts artists, photographers and admirers who visit and support the farm through purchases or donations. It provides food to the residents and local markets. The herbs, both fresh and dried, are used in the commercial kitchen. We also grow non-edible flowers to use in floral arrangements for decoration in the community building and monthly events. We often divide our perennials as nursery stock to be sold or planted at a home in other local gardens.

The farm offers lodging, accommodations and seasonal camping to guests in an effort to redistribute money that has conglomerated in urban areas, and provide a service to escapees from the city. These tourists are exposed to the farm system and the cooperative nature of the enterprise. In exchange for the farm experience guests trade money that was garnered at a much higher hourly rate than is possible in the rural economy.

The commercial kitchen operates to feed staff, hostel guests and workshop participants. Farm Feast Breakfasts, Soup Nights, Pizza Nights, Potlucks and other community food-based events are held monthly. These well-attended events provide an opportunity for neighbors to meet and experience local foods together. Canning, freezing, root cellaring, and fermentation are all methods experimented with and employed to preserve the harvest throughout the winter months.

On-site learning aims to foster our educational mission while bringing income and support to the farm. The internship program allows individuals to participate hands-on in the project. The very modest fee helps offset food and administrative costs of hosting the learners. In exchange, they are expected to commit to the hard daily work of the agrarian lifestyle. These participants get a feel for the communal lifestyle by sharing responsibilities for cooking and cleaning while also helping in the decision-making of weekly meetings.

Managing expectations for new arrivals is a challenge that must be addressed each year. Our interns have varying levels of experience in sustainable agriculture, community living and alternative social systems. Participants also come with their own preconceived notions of the way in which D Acres functions. Some are not familiar with the seasonal changes in terms of work pace. Others expect our farm to be self-sufficient in food production. Planning and implementing a sustainable farm system takes a lifetime to develop. Each year we build on what we have done in the past, yet many of our projects will take decades to come to fruition. This concept challenges many that have been raised in a society characterized by instant gratification.

Misunderstandings such as these can be managed by offering information to the public about our programs and daily toil. However, regardless of the realism with which we present the project, there is inevitably a gap between what new arrivals expect and what we can offer. In order to mitigate the difficulties that this situation presents, we strongly encourage potential learners to read documents such as our Organizational Manual and Projects & Goals (a short- and long-term planning document for the organization as a whole). This issue is further addressed through a commitment to dialogue. Community meetings and one-on-one personnel meetings encourage participants to voice their feelings and enable staff to respond to concerns.

Workshops and events are another way to involve the larger community in learning about sustainable alternatives. This is a farm classroom in which the students get hands-on experience in order to absorb practical skills. The workshops are deliberately inexpensive, and substantial discounts are offered to locals and members of the organization. At our community events, people meet face-to-face with neighbors they would only otherwise recognize by the type of car they pass on the road. Local people share their needs and talents, therefore stimulating the possibilities of the local economy. This contributes to the overall vitality of the organization by attracting dedicated supporters and building true community.

Educational experiences offered at D Acres also include apprenticeships, tours, work groups, and overnight camp experiences. Apprentices pay to learn skills in areas such as gardening, forestry, woodworking or alternative construction. Tours are scheduled, in an attempt to regulate frequent drop-ins, for a variety of groups such as garden clubs, camps and schools. Organizations for at-risk youth are invited to participate in the outdoor labor and experience the unique perspective that can calm adolescent angst. Overnight groups of students have the luxury of involving themselves in all hours of farm operations. These types of experiences require supervision and planning. Every effort is made to charge reasonable fees or find funding for these services. These types of opportunities rely on the knowledge and leadership skills of our staff combined with the cooperation and willingness to learn of the participants.

Our educational programs are primarily hands-on. The goal is to foster practical experience that can be in turn passed along to others. In the past, we have devoted the summer building program to the construction of an animal husbandry greenhouse. The “G-animal” was an immense undertaking for both the D Acres residents, as well as the workshop participants, with fantastic results. The building now houses a plethora of growing vegetables, as well as a few dozen chickens, several pigs, and also provides a working public demonstration of adobe, cob, and cordwood construction.

Experimenting with several systems for low energy living is a constant endeavor at D Acres. During the summer, the outdoor shower uses solar hot water that is warmed in a 40-gallon batch heater that has been stripped of insulation and painted black. The water tank was then placed into an old refrigerator, which was covered with a sliding glass door and placed facing the sun. The old hot water heater is plumbed and we enjoy showers without using fossil fuel. We use wood throughout the year to cook and heat hot water. There is a cob oven and cook-top that is used in the warmer months, and a woodstove we take advantage of in the winter months. A combination outdoor kitchen and greenhouse is outfitted with countertops and three wood cook stoves.

A dehydrator that utilizes wood heat and solar heat is used to dry herbs and other plants from the garden. The welded steel structure houses a system of screened shelves for laying out herbs and flowers. Plans are underway to construct a structure that will combine usage as a sauna and dehydrator for plants and lumber. In another attempt to reduce waste and make use of our surroundings, a human manure compost project is also in operation. Human waste is collected from outhouses and composting toilets at which point it is composted for several years before being applied to ornamental plants and pasture.

The community building was constructed over several years to serve as the core of the project. This structure is designed to complement the existing natural resources while maximizing the productive uses of the property. The kitchen is the heart of the operation where we meet daily to share food. Also on the first floor is the woodshop, office and garage space. In the basement there is a root cellar, recreation space, firewood storage, seed starting shelves, and a heating system. A wood boiler is used to heat the radiant floors and domestic hot water supply. On the second floor there is a room we use for meetings, films, yoga and recreation. In addition, there is studio space for crafting, a library, and separate rooms for overnight guests.

The kitchen is the shared meeting spot for the residents. The seasons dictate the ambience and type of work activities. The summer brings more available workers, as well as longer and warmer days for outdoor activity. Winter is a time of hibernation, writing, reading, yearly planning and indoor crafts. During the winter, residents tend to live in more insulated, heatable buildings and structures whereas the summer weather permits tree house and tent platform independence. Responsibilities and work schedules are divided at the weekly community meetings. We group farm operations into categories such as forestry, gardening, administration, animal husbandry, kitchen, alternative construction, woodworking, and educational programs. There is a communal contract through which residents volunteer time for cooking and cleaning tasks. Generally, there are staff meetings held in early January to plan and schedule the projects, goals, workshops and events of the upcoming calendar year.

D Acres of New Hampshire is not a farm where there are rows of corn or soy as far as the eye can see. The beautiful land with which we are blessed is simply not best utilized in that manner. Founded on the idea of service to the land and community, this project seeks to appropriately use the natural resources at hand to provide for the comfort and well being of the inhabitants, while also serving as a valuable part of creating a sustainable rural system. Learning from the experiences of previous generations and experiments of today, we endeavor to make this venture ecologically, economically and socially viable.