Greenman Farm and Homestead

This 9.2-acre site near Kansas City had been idle for many years. Starting in 2012, Greenman Farm began converting conservation terraces into swales and prairie grass into a food forest using permaculture design principles. 

There are 3.5 acres currently being converted into a fruit and nut orchard with some woodland trees, an assortment of berries, and perennial vegetables in the understory.

In the fall of 2017, a ¼ acre fruit and nut guild was established through an Eagle Scout project. Using silvopasture as a design tool, the farm will transform five acres into a form of agroforestry for future small-scale livestock management.

As part of a 2013 Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) biochar grant, the farm is testing out five different soil amendments using the 15 apple trees planted on the farm that year.

In 2017 the United States Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service awarded an Environmental Quality Incentive Program grant to acquire a high tunnel to develop high-yield/high-value fruit and herb production in NE Kansas. The farm is being developed into one of the many permaculture design demonstration sites in the area for teaching permaculture design classes, workshops, and farm tours. A new energy-efficient home will be constructed in 2018.