Perennial Roots Farm

Our Farmer Training Programs Are Evolving!

Since 2009, over 100 aspiring biodynamic farmers have participated in our North American Biodynamic Apprenticeship Program (NABDAP), learning side-by-side with exemplary biodynamic mentor farmers across the continent. We have celebrated the graduation of 37 new biodynamic farmers, and 12 more are on track to graduate this year. Just as each farm individuality needs to grow and evolve over time, so does our work to train the next generation of farmers.

Building on the strengths and accomplishments of NABDAP, we are delighted to introduce two new intensive one-year programs that will provide more flexibility, as well as a solid and broad foundation in all of the essentials of biodynamic farming for everyone who participates. Individuals will have the option to participate in just the first year, or both.

For both programs, we are inviting established farmers interested in learning more about biodynamics to participate as well continuing to offer apprenticeship opportunities on exemplary mentor farms.

The Biodynamic Farmer Foundation Year offers aspiring biodynamic farmers the opportunity to build a solid foundation in the principles and practices of biodynamic agriculture. Individual support from an experienced mentor farmer and a cohesive, integrated, and interactive learning curriculum bring biodynamics to life.

The Biodynamic Farmer Development Year, which will begin in 2019, will develop and deepen the skills needed for biodynamic farm management for those who graduate from the foundation year. This program will allow for more scope and specialization in specific farm management and production areas.

Applications for the Biodynamic Farmer Foundation Year will open at the end of November. Contact Anthony at anthony@biodynamics.com (link sends e-mail) or by phone at 262.649.9212 x14 with any questions or to be notified when applications open.

The NABDAP pages will remain in place for those interested in seeing the strong foundations we are building our new programs on. The graduate profiles are especially inspiring!  You can find all the details on our new Farmer Training programs at our new Biodynamic Farmer Training page.

These are Mentor Farms from NABDAP, which is retired. We will have mentor farm pages up for our Biodynamic Farmer Foundation Year very soon!

We began Perennial Roots Farm as a homestead project: two kids fresh out of college who were interested in reducing waste and providing enough food for our own needs. However, we soon found that we were growing more than we needed, so out of this surplus we began to find local outlets where we could sell our produce and from this, our farm continued to grow.

Our goals and practices are a synthesis of biodynamic rhythms and permaculture concepts, encouraging and fostering diversity in plants, animals and wildlife throughout the farm. We are committed to long­term sustainable practices: we plant more trees than we can use and seek to provide habitat for migratory birds in the midst of our wide range of plantings. We are concerned with perennial plants that will result in higher yields and decreasing labor as time progresses; our farm name embodies this impulse towards longevity and continuity.

In keeping with this longevity and continuity, we raise heritage animals on our farm specifically selected for their foraging traits. We raise only heritage breeds, and try to select breeds that are well adapted (or even bred) in our region. This includes our Delaware chickens, our Norfolk Black Spanish turkeys, and our Gulf Coast Native sheep. We also raise Mulefoot pigs and the endangered Kune Kune pigs from New Zealand. We raise Silver Fox Rabbits. We favor breeds that are favored by the Livestock Conservancy and the Slow Food Ark of Taste USA. We sell pedigreed breeding stock rabbits and pigs. We ferment whole grains for our animals in the warm months; this reduces stress by hydrating the feed, and provides some useful probiotics. All our grain is sourced from a local and certified organic farm. We do not use soy in our grain.

Our goal is to feed as little grain as possible to all our animals, instead encouraging a perennial grass based diet. All our animals are kept on pasture and rotated, allowing us to fertilize the soil, improving the land instead of depleting it. Our compost piles, perennial plants, trees, heritage animals and yes, even the weeds are all an integral part of this process. Nothing goes to waste here at Perennial Roots; whether it is the vegetable scraps that we turn into compost or the manure that the animals are constantly putting back into the soil, everything here is part of an intricate cycle that leads back to the fertility of the land itself.

Perennial Roots Farm is located in Accomack County whose rich history includes the fact that it was one of the richest counties in the country for a brief period of agricultural wealth. Accomack County today, however, is one of the poorest counties in Virginia, even though the Eastern Shore of Virginia continues to produce a huge percentage of Virginia’s agricultural products. Located on the Delmarva peninsula, a tiny and often forgotten strip of Virginia, Accomack is in a unique location within reasonable shipping distance from Washington, D.C., Hampton Roads, Philadelphia, and even New York City. The Delmarva Peninsula can and should be the breadbasket of the entire eastern seaboard. There is no reason that this area couldn’t supply real food while generating real wealth for farmers once more.

Perennial Roots is dedicated to supporting our local community, farmers, cooperation, buying and selling locally and improving our precious soil instead of depleting it. We believe that all of these little, important practices can help our community thrive again as it once did. 

We have an extensive agriculture library and encourage ­­ require – certain books to be read, and read carefully. Communal meals are casual discussions of the day’s events and of the previous day’s learning. We also offer work day visits to other local farms in order to introduce our apprentices to a variety of farming practices.