Environment and Sustainability
Fall 2017 WERS Food Forest Planning
During the fall 2017 semester, students in ENV 454w are planning a food forest for the Whittaker Environmental Research Station (WERS). The food forest will provide a new food system where students can learn about and experiment with sustainable agricultural production. Field trips are a key feature of the class and have included visits to area orchards, a forest garden in the city, a permaculture site, and nearby conservation areas. Students have met with and talked to local business owners, private citizens, and government managers. Riparian team works out details of their design concept.
Team members share thoughts on emerging design elements.
Visit to the Satomaya Homestead, where Sarah and Will Caverly introduced students to a residential permaculture experiment.
Diverse products harvested from the homestead.
Students explore the “yard”.
Picking some raspberries.
Will Caverly explains challenges of permaculture.
Sarah Caverly explains layout and design features.
Students get a sense of the yard-forest interface on the property.
Staff from the National Park Service at Hopewell Furnace explain key management goals of heirloom orchard.
Hopewell Furnace staff discuss challenges of managing heirloom orchard.
Discussing benefits of an heirloom orchard while enjoying some tasty apples.
Class photo at Hopewell Furnace NHS.
Appreciating the pollinator garden outside the Visitor Center at Hopewell Furnace NHS.
Students visit Penn Orchard at Penn Park on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Robyn Mello from the Philadelphia Orchard Project explains the diversity of species found within patches.
This distinctive approach to gardening with perennial plants is just under the South Street bridge.
Passengers on Amtrak’s NE corridor get a view of a forest garden.
Another successful class field trip!
Ed Weaver welcomes students to his multi-generational family-owned orchard.
Weaver's Orchards features multiple types of fruit-related products, both fresh and processed.
A crate of recently harvested apples to be washed.
Weaver's Orchard includes educational spaces to learn about bees and pollination.
Students learn about berry production challenges.
A dragonfly inside the bird netting.
High tower tunnels to protect cherry trees from heavy summer rains.
Discussing management strategies within a kiwi berry block.
Darin Groff of Natural Lands explains the diverse habitat types at Binky Lee Preserve.
Heading to the preserve's riparian forest restoration site.
Learning about riparian restoration strategies.
Stopping to examine interpretive signage.
Thinking about multi-story canopy dynamics.
Thinking and talking about invasive species issues.
Inspiration for an outdoor classroom.
The high country and exquisite views.
Riparian team works out details of their design concept.
Team members share thoughts on emerging design elements.
Visit to the Satomaya Homestead, where Sarah and Will Caverly introduced students to a residential permaculture experiment.
Diverse products harvested from the homestead.
Students explore the “yard”.
Picking some raspberries.
Will Caverly explains challenges of permaculture.
Sarah Caverly explains layout and design features.
Students get a sense of the yard-forest interface on the property.
Staff from the National Park Service at Hopewell Furnace explain key management goals of heirloom orchard.
Hopewell Furnace staff discuss challenges of managing heirloom orchard.
Discussing benefits of an heirloom orchard while enjoying some tasty apples.
Class photo at Hopewell Furnace NHS.
Appreciating the pollinator garden outside the Visitor Center at Hopewell Furnace NHS.
Students visit Penn Orchard at Penn Park on the University of Pennsylvania campus.
Robyn Mello from the Philadelphia Orchard Project explains the diversity of species found within patches.
This distinctive approach to gardening with perennial plants is just under the South Street bridge.
Passengers on Amtrak’s NE corridor get a view of a forest garden.
Another successful class field trip!
Ed Weaver welcomes students to his multi-generational family-owned orchard.
Weaver's Orchards features multiple types of fruit-related products, both fresh and processed.
A crate of recently harvested apples to be washed.
Weaver's Orchard includes educational spaces to learn about bees and pollination.
Students learn about berry production challenges.
A dragonfly inside the bird netting.
High tower tunnels to protect cherry trees from heavy summer rains.
Discussing management strategies within a kiwi berry block.
Darin Groff of Natural Lands explains the diverse habitat types at Binky Lee Preserve.
Heading to the preserve's riparian forest restoration site.
Learning about riparian restoration strategies.
Stopping to examine interpretive signage.
Thinking about multi-story canopy dynamics.
Thinking and talking about invasive species issues.
Inspiration for an outdoor classroom.
The high country and exquisite views.