You can tell when you

drive into the laneway

at Terra Verde farm

near Conn in Wellington County that

there are a lot of projects on the go

here. Young fruit trees populate the

front lawn. A perennial bed flanks

the lane. Young fry chickens are

pecking through the grass and two

blond boys are racing into the garden

while a young woman comes forward

to greet me with dirt-stained hands.

This is Lorraine Blackwell andshe manages the 1.5 acre CommunitySupported Agriculture (CSA) garden,which is an innovative system oflocal food production in which theconsumer pledges to support thegrower by purchasing food shares. Fifty customers have paid

between $450 and $500 in a close

OCTOBER 2015 23

Terra Verde

Using trees to create micro-climates

and moderate climate change

Rob Johnson and Lorraine Blackwell sense a correction is coming to currentfarming and living practices and after living for a number of years inCambridge and Guelph, decided to follow their hearts and buy a rural propertythat would allow them the opportunity to live self-sustainably. They dream bigand four years in, are learning which ideas work...and which don’t.

By Lisa B. Pot

relationship where the growers andconsumer share the risks and benefitsof food production. Over 500vegetable varieties are grown at TerraVerde and that’s just one of theongoing projects that keep Lorraineand her husband Rob Johnson very,very busy.I’ve actually come here today to

talk about trees. That’s Rob’sspecialty. And we do chat about treesbut so many other subjects sproutedduring the interview I realized this ismore a story about ideas taking root.

It stems from Rob’s belief that thefuture of the planet, and our ability tofeed people, revolves aroundsustainable farming.“There is a correction coming,” he

predicts. Desertification, salination,droughts, forest depletion, carbonloss and climate change are all issueshe worries about. As fears aboutfood supply grow, Rob and Lorrainedecided to be proactive andpurchased a 10-acre farm with theintent to be ecologically self-sufficient and in the process, learn

strategies to teach others to do thesame.

In his readings and research, onearticle that stuck with him was fromOxford University which suggestedthat the best way to counteractclimate change is to plant trees.This resonated with Rob, whose

career has focused on environmentalrestoration and tree planting. Hecurrently works for the County ofWellington managing the GreenLegacy program which has seen over160,000 trees planted, and continue

Animals, trees and gardens fill the 10 acresLorraine Blackwell and Rob Johnsonpurchased four years ago in an attempt tolive self-sustainably. Clockwise, top left: theguardian llama, caterpillar on fennel in thecommunity garden, ducks, Rob by the hives,plastic-covered garden rows, the nut treenursery.

24 THE RURAL VOICE

OCTOBER 2015 25

to be planted with the aid ofcommunity partners and schoolprograms where students start treesfrom seed (Kindergarten to Grade 3),nurse them (Grade 4-6) and plantthem (Grades 7-8) as part of theirlearning experience.“When we open up big spaces, we

create wind velocity, exposure anddesertification,” explains Rob.“When we plant trees, they createmicroclimates that increase yields,protect soils and moderate theclimate.”His farm is becoming a model of

permaculture and an ecosystemapproach to farming. Now four yearsin, Rob and Lorraine are starting tosee progress and an income, althoughRob’s hope to farm full-time hasbeen pushed back to 2020.Profits, like trees, grow slowly.But the ideals continue to flourish

as Rob, used to pushing his body inultra-marathon races, works 16 hourdays to make practical the ideas thatfill his head.“I bring a lot of ideas together and

try to use the pragmatic and science-based ones to make things easier,faster and sustainable,” he says. “Icould give you so much information,you won’t know where to start!”Trees are a good starting point

since Rob believes they have thegreatest potential to make change.At Terra Verde, tree planting

follows a silvopasturing model whichintegrates pasture and animals.Instead of planting a monoculture

orchard, he plants varieties of trees inrows through his crop fields andpastures.Integrating fruit and nut trees,

along with bee-loving trees likehoney locust naturally preventsdisease.

The intent is that as the treesgrow, they will create microclimatesto grow better crops. When theybegin producing, the fruit and nutswill feed both people and animals.The shade provided will reduce heatstress on the animals grazing on thegrass strips in between, as part of amob grazing system where animalsrotate quickly through pasturepaddocks allowing the grasses toregenerate from 45-day rest periods.Rob also refers to the process as a

savannah system of scattered trees,animals and crops creating a

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productive ecosystem.Rob grows the trees from seed.

Many of them start in his fridge, in aprocess called stratification where theseeds are kept cool and moist tomimic winter conditions.Other seeds, like those of the

Honey Locust and Kentucky CoffeeTree require scarification which Robdoes by popping them into a blenderto lightly nick the seed. “Read Growing Trees from Seed

by Henry Koch,” advises Rob. “It’s agreat resource.”He starts from seed to reduce

costs and to develop a small treenursery. Many of the trees he willplant, some he sells as an incomesupplement on the farm. Seedlingscurrently potted include applevarieties such as Wealthy, Liberty,Bellmac, Novamac, Red Free andIdared. There are Asian pear, pluspeach and plum varieties. Nutvarieties include hazelnuts, chestnuts,heartnuts, buartnuts (butternut Xheartnut), hickory, black walnut,northern pecan and Korean pine(which produce pinenuts).Elderberries and spruce trees have

been planted around the nursery tocreate a microclimate for theseedlings. The elderberries werespecifically chosen because they cangrow bushy and can handle extramoisture from the water sprinklingsystem. Plus, they provide flowersfor tea and berries for wine.You’ll find a few Black Locusts

for the beehives flanking the animalshed. Bees are everywhere and theroving chickens find themfascinating. Every once in a while,Rob will hear a chicken squawkingand running pell-mell across thepasture after trying to feed on thebees. Generally, though, it’s apeaceable yard as the ducks,chickens, turkeys, guinea fowl,llama, sheep and goats share quarters.Like the animals, the mixed trees

support each other. Locust trees aregood nitrogen fixers, explains Rob.Their trunks also serve as supportsfor the grape, kiwi and Schisandra (asuperberry) vines he plans to grow upthem.Four years in, with more ideas

than time, projects are in variousstages of completion.“I’m doing a gazillion things and

finding it hard to find time to finish

anything,” admits Rob.He needs more time, more

acreage, more help and more time-saving systems that will make hisideals palatable to more conventionalfarmers.Plastic was one of them. The first trees he planted were

mulched to retain moisture andsuppress weeds. However, TerraVerde soils are rife with twitch grassand other competitive weeds. SinceRob and Lorraine are organicfarmers, they cannot spray.Instead, they decided to use

plastic.“Some purists shake their head but

mulch wasn’t working. The twitchgrass was taking over, sucking up allthe moisture, and leaving nothing for

Rob’s Links

Links to articles and ideas RobJohnson mentioned in the story orused as the source for his own self-sustaining approach can be foundbelow:

• Sixty years left of growing crops:http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/mar/25/treating-soil-like-dirt-fatal-mistake-human-life?CMP=share_btn_fb

• Sustainablefarming/agroforestry/permaculture:https://www.lush.co.uk/article/lesson-regenerative-agriculture-loess-plateau

• Effects of lack of water:http://upriser.com/posts/alarm-bells-toll-for-human-civilization-as-world-s-12th-largest-mega-city-to-run-out-of-water-in-just-60-days

• Where have all the trees gone?http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/2015/07/16/family-of-5-and-what-remains/

• Trees are the answer: http://www.theoptimist.com/planting-trees-is-the-best-way-to-fight-climate-change/

• The Green Legacy:http://www.wellington.ca/en/discover/greenlegacystrategy.asp

• Agroforestry and premaculturepremises:http://www.newforestfarm.net/

• Pragmatic orchards using plastic: http://miracle.farm/en/

• Sustainable farming in thetropics: http://geofflawton.com/

• Local nursery supplying trees andshrubs for self-sustainable farming:http://www.whiffletreefarmandnursery.ca/

26 THE RURAL VOICE

Rows of trees are planted throughthe hayfields at Terra Verde as RobJohnson plans to create micro-climates in which to increase yieldsand protect soils. Multiple speciesare planted in the rows to aid indisease prevention. Each treeserves a purpose as either a foodsource for humans, animals orbees. Rob started a nut treenursery to reduce tree purchasingcosts and provide additional farmincome.

the trees.”So now he uses his BCS tractor

with accompanying attachments tocreate raised beds in the fields. Hecreates a ditch down the middle, thencovers the bed with 10 millimeterthick plastic. Trees are planted intothe bed and the plastic pushed downinto the ditch, creating a causewaywhere rains can collect, to naturallywater the young trees. Another problem he had was

animal pressure on the trees. Theanimal population is small butgrowing at Terra Verde. The idea isto raise poultry, sheep, goats, pigsand llamas on the grass stretchesbetween the tree planting. When hefirst let sheep into the treedpaddocks, he discovered they woulduse their body mass to push againstthe protective cages he had placedaround the trees so they could nibbleat the bark.“I had to move to hot wire which

works very well,” says Rob.The llama serves as a protective

animal and two Kunekune pigs aredue to arrive shortly. They are asmall, friendly, foraging pig whichcan live on grass and hay alone,making them ideal additions to thesilvopasture.The Kunekunes aren’t common in

Canada so they will be used asbreeding stock. The plan is to eatsome of their livestock as part of theself sustaining model.“I eat mostly fruits and vegetables

but we do kill a rooster about once amonth,” says Ron. “I don’t like to butit gives us a meat option.”Ron and Lorraine have two boys,

aged seven and nine, who scamperabout the place like puppies, full ofadventurous play.There’s a sense of adventure on

the farm itself, as Ron and Lorrainelive their ideals. It looks like lot ofwork, because it is. But they arecoming ever closer to their dream ofbecoming self-sustaining and lovesharing what they’ve learned so faron their four-year journey. They arealso creating community along theway as they seek the knowledge ofthose experienced in ecologicalsustainibility, bring food productionback to the community, and fosterpositive relationships with anyonesearching the same path they arecommitted to taking. ◊

OCTOBER 2015 27

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