The Emergent Farm
Established in 2014 on the largest remaining remnant of an old dairy farm in Kensington, The Emergent Farm is a production landscape in flux. For many years, the majority of the property has been kept under hay fields. This remains the case. However, we are incrementally integrating new productive elements into the landscape in order to bring fresh and exciting products to market. The first of these projects is our pasture-raised layer duck flock. As that project matures, we will be exploring new systems. We are particularly interested in developing and evaluating woody perennial-based polyculture systems to integrate with pastured poultry and livestock production.
We approach this enterprise with a strong sense of responsibility to the land and the community. We are committed to designing production systems which fuel a profitable business. However, it is also crucial that these systems restore and strengthen ecosystem functioning, as well as reinforce and expand the social relationships which bind our communities, local and beyond.
An Emergent Farmer
Andrew S. Roberts (stay-at-home dad/chief duck wrangler): Andy received his doctorate in biology from the City University of New York and the New York Botanical Garden in 2011. His dissertation focused on the relationships between changing agricultural diversity and changing landscapes on the Tonle Sap floodplain in Cambodia. Prior to that, he served as an agroforestry extension agent with the Peace Corps in Tanzania and had studied sustainable agriculture at the University of Maine. In early 2014, he completed a Permaculture Design Certificate, followed by an Advanced Permaculture Design Certificate course in 2015.