Appalachian Sustainable Development (ASD) has expanded its agroforestry technical assistance program for new or seasoned farmers to provide them with a variety of free services to help them expand or implement agroforestry practices into their farm or land. Interested farmers and landowners are encouraged to apply at: https://www.asdevelop.org/programs-resources/agroforestry/. Questions should be directed to Stesha Warren, Agroforester, at: [email protected] or Robin Suggs, Procurement Manager, at: [email protected]
Agroforestry technical assistance now includes resources on a variety of things including: alley cropping – the planting of rows of trees and/or shrubs to create alleys within which forage, produce, herbs or other agricultural or horticultural crops are grown; and forest farming – the cultivation of high-value, shade loving crops, most commonly called non-timber forest products (NTFP’s), under the protection of a managed tree canopy. Forest farming can produce a variety of end products ranging from medicinal and edibles crops to ornamental and ritualistic items. ASD’s focus is on helping forest farmers produce edibles such as maple syrup, ramps or mushrooms, and medicinals such as ginseng and goldenseal.
Farmers can also benefit from resource sharing, phone calls, site visits and planning (which have a $50 fee to offset travel expenses). Site visits are subject to staff capacity, availability and grant funding. ASD may not be able to conduct site visits with all eligible applicants and site visits are first come, first serve. Eligible applicants must live within a 3 hour radius from ASD’s Appalachian Harvest Food and Herb Hub located in Duffield, VA.
