It is uncommon to see integrated landscape design applied to farm landscapes. Many farmers, for good reason, get lost in the day-to-day operations of the farm and rarely get a chance to take a plan view look at the whole farm.
That’s where this service comes in. Over the past four years, we’ve been working increasingly with farmers and farm landscapes to harmonize production goals with ecological goals. In particular, we’ve been undertaking a 3-year monitoring and education program on ‘keyline water management’. In addition, we apply other design & management tools for more resilient farms, like agro-forestry, windbreaks, silvo-pasture systems, irrigation ponds, and more.
Our farm planning seeks to store more water on farms, manage storms better, improve soil health & fertility and increase bio-diversity for pest management. Our process involves:
- an online goals assessment survey
- a site visit from Tayler for a walkabout with aerial image of farm + contours
- some ‘silent-time’ on the property for observation
- a follow up report providing insight into key design factors & their solutions
- a follow up phone call or email to discuss in more detail
Some of the possible questions that we help our clients with include:
- How can I improve water management on my site to balance drainage and water retention?
- Can we make our water supply systems more resilient?
- How might adding multi-functional trees and shrubs to the farm increase resiliency in the long-run? What species would do well here?
- What soil improvement techniques could be used on my farm?
- How does keyline design apply to my farm property?
- How can individual farm elements be more integrated together?
This service is our introductory service. For many clients, this is all they need to get started and move forward with their farm improvements. Others want to move ahead with more detailed planning and/or installation of infrastructure. We give some recommendations and leave the next steps up to you.
Consultations starting at $300
+ GST + travel time & mileage.
For winter/spring 2017, we are booking for Mondays, Fridays & Saturdays.
Let us know if you’d like to book a consultation for your farm.
We use contour maps to understand your farm’s micro-watershed.
‘Keyline’ subsoil plowing can help relieve deep compaction and create water harvesting furrows.
Soil profile investigation for the feasibility of a clay-lined water reservoir.
In nature, elements are multi-functional and inter-connected. We think your farm elements should be too.