The Wilde's Dream
In 2005, inspired by the self sufficiency they remembered from their grandparents, and the wisdom of their Ancestors, Laura Jean and Garnet Wilde purchased a small piece of land with an old farmhouse (Circa 1875), a small barn, and 12 acres of workable land. Three acres had been fallow for the previous five years, being sheep pasture before that. The other eight was rented and commercially farmed, which left it completely depleted and badly compacted.
Recalling the past, creating forward
Laura remembered her grandparents farm, with fruit trees and berry bushes of every variety, currants, gooseberries, thimble-berries, black caps, a sugar bush. She has fond memories of picking hickory nuts (and then eating them), and bountiful vegetable garden with every variety of vegetable you could imagine. This is what Laura and Garnet wanted.
Wilde on Turtle Island is Born
The following year they took the eight acre field out of production, planting it in hay. They began planting a variety of fruit and nut trees in the fallow pasture, dug a pond, and began planting windbreaks. They started inter-planting the nut trees with some berry varieties with the goal of determining the plants best suited to this specific location. Next they started thinking about Fruit trees! Laura and Garnet planted trees and shrubs and perennial vegetables of every kind imaginable.
Our food Forest came alive!
Discovering Permaculture
Laura and Garnet's initial efforts were informed by instinct and inspiration, until one day they learned that what they were doing was very similar to a new approach to farming called Permaculture!
Having a label for what they were doing gave them access to a massive body of information and experience, and the realization that they were not alone.
They were powerfully inspired. Laura and Garnet dove right in and started to learn about Permaculture.
Creating a Natural Biodiversity
As they added plant diversity (flora), they quickly discovered that a healthy ecosystem also has animal diversity (fauna). Their initial plantings of food crops soon became inundated with too many feasting beasties. To balance this they introduced their first working Jack Russell Terriers.