Research

As an education center, Unadilla Community Farm is a site for experimentation and learning. We showcase a wide variety of sustainable farming techniques and conduct on-farm research to trial new methods, offer recommendations, and provide replicable models for our interns and the broader farming community. From collecting soil samples to measuring the pH of liquid fertilizers, interns gain hands-on experience to prepare them for future careers in agricultural research. In addition to our own original research, we provide technical assistance and allocate on-site test plots for our permaculture internship graduates to carry out their own independent research projects post-internship.

Dynamic Accumulators

Unadilla Community Farm conducted original research for Northeast SARE project FNE20-967 on dynamic accumulators. This two-year research project began in February 2020 and concluded December 2021. You can read the detailed report of our findings here.

Year 1:

Established test rows for 6 promising dynamic accumulator species for Northeast farmers in zones 4+: redroot amaranth, red clover, lambsquarters, stinging nettle, Bocking-14 comfrey, and dandelion.
Completed a series of soil tests on the test rows and a control row that is kept fallow.
Presented research on the Plant Cunning Podcast.
Presented webinar hosted by the Finger Lakes Permaculture Institute.
Article published by the Permaculture Research Institute.

Year 2:

Took plant tissue samples from all 6 test rows.
Harvested and weighed plant materials.
"Chopped and dropped" plant tissue for mulches and tested nutrient levels in the soil.
Brewed liquid fertilizer samples derived from each test crop.
Tracked nutrient levels in the soil.
Compiled research findings. Read the report here.
Article published by the Permaculture Research Institute.

Research

Dynamic Accumulators

About

Programs

Support Our Work