Big Foot Food Forest is a small, diverse permaculture farm nestled in between the villages of Turner’s Falls and Montague Village in Western Massachusetts. We started in 2017 with the dream of learning how to grow food for people in a way that is also good for the soil, wildlife, plants, and fungi – leaving a big and positive footprint on the land (hence, Big Foot). We consider ourselves active and ongoing learners, and invite others to come and learn with us.
Because this is a permaculture farm, there are many interlocking things going on. There are animals that provide food and fiber, but also nutrients for our trees and bushes. The plants provide shade and food for the animals. Mushrooms are grown to eat, but also to support the plants. Our plants grow together in mutually beneficial polycultures. We invite the very little people (insects) to help us, as well as wild birds. When we build, we try to use materials that can decompose and go back to the earth or can be recycled. We try for all the pieces to be working together to reduce the amount of work for us (in particular, work by machines using fossil fuels). It’s all still a lot of work though!
Our main goal is to create a permaculture orchard of almonds, pecans, walnuts, and chestnuts, as well as fields of blueberry, raspberry, raspberry, and super healthy, lesser known varieties like seaberry, goji berry, aronia, and hardy kiwi. True to our permaculture roots, we create plant and fungi communities around each of our nut trees and berry bushes to provide nutrients and keep away pests. Our sheep and chickens are also part of the nut and berry program. Most of our other berry and nut plants are still little nascent babies that are slowly, but surely, budding and making their way into the soil, and will start to bear fruit in the next 2-5 years.
In 2022, we plan to sell blueberries and raspberries direct from the farm.
We also have naturally raised, free range chickens from a mix of heirloom breeds. We think they are intelligent, social creatures and treat them accordingly. In return they give us beautiful, rich eggs, amazing compost, and friendly exchange. They live in large, open hoop houses in flocks of only 70 to maintain a healthy social order in the group. The flocks include four mighty roosters to protect our beautiful hens when they are out and about.
Every day, they get a good dose of food scraps from neighbors who have joined our Food Scrap Exchange. They love the leaves, hay, and scraps and turn these waste products into great compost for our plants and our neighbors. They also get freshly-ground corn and soy from nearby Clover Hill Farm, which we ferment for added pro-biotics and vitamins. In the warm season, they are outside foraging on grasses, weeds and keeping down the tick population. Inside the hoop houses, they forage for bugs in their deep litter of leaves and spent hay.
If you live nearby, contact us today about our Rainbow-Colored Egg CSA or joining the Food Scrap Exchange!
To help us maintain and fertilize the rows of nuts and berries in a pleasurable and natural way we keep a small flock of sheep. Every day, 8 months a year, they are let out to graze on a new paddock in between the nut and berry rows. Intermittent grazing improves the pasture between the rows while keeping it mowed, and the sheep's manure is rich in potassium and phosphorus, which the nut trees and berry bushes access via their roots for stronger growth and vibrant fruit. In the cold months, the sheep eat local hay in their winter pasture, or, if the weather is particularly nasty, they stay inside the hoop house.
The sheep produce extravagant quality wool; and in the near future (we hope) will give heirloom Southdown Babydoll lambs for us to sell.
When we purchased this land in 2019, there were no buildings so we started from scratch. In 2020, we built a pretty good, and mostly recyclable or compostable timber frame house (we do hope the house will stand for the next 200 years though). It runs off 100 percent solar energy (including the car charger). The reclaimable building parts are: Maine Eastern Pine timbers, wood siding with pine tar finish, recycled newspaper for insulation, gypsum boards, recycled oak floors, metal roofing, and concrete. We could not get around some non-recyclable stuff for the roof insulation, electrical wiring, plumbing and kitchen appliances though. The barns are made of all wood and metal. We continue to strive for natural, durable and ultimately recyclable building as we go forward.
This summer, from June 5-11, 2022 we are very excited to host a natural building workshop with Michael McDonough. He has been teaching natural building workshops around the United States since 2009 and has built scores of natural buildings. He will take us through putting up straw bale walls, putting on natural plaster, adding a sod roof and (if time allows) installing an earth floor. Join us!
Lastly, we are engage in outreach. While we are learning to farm in a more regenerative manner, we want to share that learning with others. Please contact us directly or hop over to our workaway page if you are interested in coming to stay, enjoy, work, and learn.
Because this is a permaculture farm, there are many interlocking things going on. There are animals that provide food and fiber, but also nutrients for our trees and bushes. The plants provide shade and food for the animals. Mushrooms are grown to eat, but also to support the plants. Our plants grow together in mutually beneficial polycultures. We invite the very little people (insects) to help us, as well as wild birds. When we build, we try to use materials that can decompose and go back to the earth or can be recycled. We try for all the pieces to be working together to reduce the amount of work for us (in particular, work by machines using fossil fuels). It’s all still a lot of work though!
Our main goal is to create a permaculture orchard of almonds, pecans, walnuts, and chestnuts, as well as fields of blueberry, raspberry, raspberry, and super healthy, lesser known varieties like seaberry, goji berry, aronia, and hardy kiwi. True to our permaculture roots, we create plant and fungi communities around each of our nut trees and berry bushes to provide nutrients and keep away pests. Our sheep and chickens are also part of the nut and berry program. Most of our other berry and nut plants are still little nascent babies that are slowly, but surely, budding and making their way into the soil, and will start to bear fruit in the next 2-5 years.
In 2022, we plan to sell blueberries and raspberries direct from the farm.
We also have naturally raised, free range chickens from a mix of heirloom breeds. We think they are intelligent, social creatures and treat them accordingly. In return they give us beautiful, rich eggs, amazing compost, and friendly exchange. They live in large, open hoop houses in flocks of only 70 to maintain a healthy social order in the group. The flocks include four mighty roosters to protect our beautiful hens when they are out and about.
Every day, they get a good dose of food scraps from neighbors who have joined our Food Scrap Exchange. They love the leaves, hay, and scraps and turn these waste products into great compost for our plants and our neighbors. They also get freshly-ground corn and soy from nearby Clover Hill Farm, which we ferment for added pro-biotics and vitamins. In the warm season, they are outside foraging on grasses, weeds and keeping down the tick population. Inside the hoop houses, they forage for bugs in their deep litter of leaves and spent hay.
If you live nearby, contact us today about our Rainbow-Colored Egg CSA or joining the Food Scrap Exchange!
To help us maintain and fertilize the rows of nuts and berries in a pleasurable and natural way we keep a small flock of sheep. Every day, 8 months a year, they are let out to graze on a new paddock in between the nut and berry rows. Intermittent grazing improves the pasture between the rows while keeping it mowed, and the sheep's manure is rich in potassium and phosphorus, which the nut trees and berry bushes access via their roots for stronger growth and vibrant fruit. In the cold months, the sheep eat local hay in their winter pasture, or, if the weather is particularly nasty, they stay inside the hoop house.
The sheep produce extravagant quality wool; and in the near future (we hope) will give heirloom Southdown Babydoll lambs for us to sell.
When we purchased this land in 2019, there were no buildings so we started from scratch. In 2020, we built a pretty good, and mostly recyclable or compostable timber frame house (we do hope the house will stand for the next 200 years though). It runs off 100 percent solar energy (including the car charger). The reclaimable building parts are: Maine Eastern Pine timbers, wood siding with pine tar finish, recycled newspaper for insulation, gypsum boards, recycled oak floors, metal roofing, and concrete. We could not get around some non-recyclable stuff for the roof insulation, electrical wiring, plumbing and kitchen appliances though. The barns are made of all wood and metal. We continue to strive for natural, durable and ultimately recyclable building as we go forward.
This summer, from June 5-11, 2022 we are very excited to host a natural building workshop with Michael McDonough. He has been teaching natural building workshops around the United States since 2009 and has built scores of natural buildings. He will take us through putting up straw bale walls, putting on natural plaster, adding a sod roof and (if time allows) installing an earth floor. Join us!
Lastly, we are engage in outreach. While we are learning to farm in a more regenerative manner, we want to share that learning with others. Please contact us directly or hop over to our workaway page if you are interested in coming to stay, enjoy, work, and learn.