With the complexity of modern living, the value of resilience grows increasingly clear. Building our skillsets to include a broad array of strategies and techniques can help buffer against these social, economic, and ecological uncertainties. The practice of coppice agroforestry and other forms of resprout silviculture, along with the lens offered by Keyline patterning and design, provide two powerful tools to help inform and diversify land stewards’ approaches to land management.

In this weekend workshop, we’ll explore the foundations of each of these practices, both in the field and in the classroom. Fresh off the release of his long-awaited book Coppice Agroforestry, grower and ecological planner Mark Krawczyk will educate participants in the basics of coppice and keyline and how they contribute to powerful woodland-based economies. In a lively full weekend, we will:

·         Review the ancient history and abundant practices of coppicing, as well as reviving its role for the future of sylvan landscapes and agricultural economies

·         Discuss a range of opportunities to incorporate coppicing into farm enterprises for fencepost production, fuel and craft wood, and ecological restoration

·         Touch on tree anatomy, biology, and woodland ecology

·         Learn about different species, their wood properties, and how they respond to coppicing

·         Consider the concept of keyline as a way to design new resprout silviculture systems informed by the topography of the landscape

·         Practice hands-on pruning to establish coppicing rotations

·         Make time for lots of Q and A so we’re learning what we need to know along the way

We’ll begin the weekend with an evening meal and introduction to coppice agroforestry’s history and future, followed by two days of site visits and on-the-ground conversation to translate ideas into working fields and forests! On our first full day, we’ll visit a 50-acre farm to sketch out keyline design and layout for planting patterns, water harvesting infrastructure, and accessways for alley-cropped silvopasture. That afternoon, we’ll visit a nearby 40-acre nonprofit vegetable farm with a budding community arboretum and goat silvopasture fed by existing coppices and pollards. Our final day will convene on a two-acre riparian nursery (seedbank of Silver Run Forest Farm) where we’ll put our observations into hands-on practice for cut and come again forestry!  

Combining coppicing and keyline offers a systematic approach to designing our own agroforestry systems that meet local needs while also nurturing earth. This unique course promises to be a wonderful weekend filled with useful ways to ally ourselves with the remarkable resilience of plants so we can be the tending hands of the woods so we can consciously participate in the ecosystems we call home.

• Day 1 Friday March 10th 6-9PM @ 2700 Willow Run Road, Harrisonburg, VA

  • Dinner with meat and vegan options

• Day 2 Saturday March 11th 9AM-5PM @ 2700 Willow Run Road, Harrisonburg, VA in the morning, 6357 Acker Lane, Linville, VA in the afternoon

  • Breakfast snacks and hot drinks

  • Lunch with meat and vegan options

• Day 3 Sunday March 12th 9AM-3PM @ 3845 Happy Valley Road, Keezletown, VA

  • Breakfast snacks and hot drinks

  • Lunch with meat and vegan options

Note on Payment: This workshop is offered on a sliding scale! Feel free to contact us if the cost is still too high so we can find another way for you to attend!