Ecology is Everywhere: Episode 8, Scott Courcelle (Alchemy Gardens)
“You have a lot of great soils here (River Bend Farm). You have endless potential for food production. A lot of the space is too steep for annual vegetable production—it’s kind of hilly here. And you want to prevent soil erosion wherever possible. So, a lot of this land wouldn’t lend itself well to what we’re doing in vegetable production at all. But it lends itself fantastically for orcharding, fruit production, berry production, perennials of all sorts, food forest types of things. Exciting opportunities all over the place.”
Scott Courcelle shares his journey from environmental educator to farmer. As the person responsible for setting up the agroecology farming operations at River Bend Farm, Scott is beginning to transform the hay fields into nutritious growing grounds. In addition to his work at River Bend Farm, Scott is creating agricultural programming partnerships with local schools in his home state of Vermont through his work at Alchemy Farms and Shrewsbury Agricultural Education & Arts Foundation (SAGE).
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Links from this Episode:
Alchemy Gardens (Shrewsbury, VT)
The Ecology School Blog: What's Up Next for the Farm: Soil Health and Cultivation
Ecology is Everywhere is a podcast about environmental education and the places it takes us. Host Philip Mathieu speaks with guests who share a common experience: teaching one or more seasons of outdoor, experiential environmental science at The Ecology School, an non-profit based in Saco, ME. Hear how an experience teaching can impact lives and careers in interesting and sometimes unexpected ways.
Scott Courcelle at a farmers market in Vermont.
Scott begins work on the food production fields in May 2020.