Matt Lamb and Jay Allard are introducing permaculture methods of growing foods to Berkshire County, with a showcase garden at Shire City Sanctuary.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — They're not your average entrepreneurs, and it isn't your typical business model.

 

Berkshire Earth Regenerators was recently launched with the ambitious mission of widespread edible abundance, enhancement of local open spaces, and "connecting people not only with the community, but with the planet," according to co-founder Matt Lamb.

 

Lamb, a contractor and landscaping expert, together with Jay Allard, a mechanical engineer, formed the company earlier this year with the intention of applying cutting edge permaculture science to local food growing — an approach that has already begun to bear fruit.

 

"It all happened very quick, but it all made so much sense," said Lamb. "We were both looking for a way to help provide for our families, but also help build a resilient community." 

 

Using simple but innovative kind of agricultural architecture, permaculture methods are designed to create exponentially increasing output in harvestable food with drastically less labor input than in traditional methods. 

 

Having devoted years to studying these kinds of innovations, Lamb said he felt the time was right to take the next step in bringing this science into practice in the Berkshires, and already he and Allard have established an initial showcase example, at the Shire City Sanctuary artisan center on Melville Street.

 

All along the side of the yard of the former Notre Dame rectory Berkshire Earth Regenerators planted an extensive "hugel" bed, employing a large amount of natural wood debris already in need of disposal on the property.  

 

"We basically planted it in a day, and walked away," said Lamb of the installation, which can now produce hundreds of pounds of food with minimal tending.

 

"Regenerative is a better term than sustainable," Allard of this kind of agriculture, "We don't just want to sustain where we are now."

 

This first phase of several planned at the Shire City Sanctuary includes over two dozen different foods, including corn, radishes, lettuce, tomatoes, asparagus, squash, peas, carrots, beets, broccoli, chard, sprouts, cucumbers, plantains, potatoes, beans, melons and more within one long, tiered row of mutually beneficial ecosystem.  

 

Hugelkulture (from "hill culture," pronounced "hoo-gul culture") employs a layered mound system that holds moisture and maximizes surface "edge" ecosystem, increasing soil fertility progressively each year. The mound beds store and better utilize rainwater, and wood debris used in their installation provides long term nutrition for the array of plants. Through this method, practitioners aim to not only exponentially increase the yield volume of vegetation relative to both space and labor hours, but do so in a way that improves rather than depletes the soil in which they're growing.

 

The initial hugel bed planted at Shire City cost less than $200 in seed and supplies.  

 

Berkshire Earth Regenerators say they're looking to expand this model into partnerships with other public and private properties to create a beautifying, easily maintainable "forest of food" in small pockets throughout the extensive acreage of open space throughout the city. Hoped for collaborations with parks and local schools would provide not only a great source of locally sourced food for cafeterias but also offer great educational benefit, something Allard and Lamb said is crucial to their overall mission. 

 

To this end, they've established a monthly film event series, aimed at increasing awareness of what permaculture is, and its benefits. These are held evenings, the third Wednesday of the month, at Dottie's Coffee Lounge.  

 

The next showing will be of the film One Straw Revolution, on Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. A brief discussion follows the showing, and a "light permaculture inspired dinner" is available at 6.  

 

They also hope to connect the output of new planting projects with the supply chain  of local restaurants, amidst a growing farm-to-table shift toward locally grown food in the region. Local food banks and charitable kitchens would also be recipients of the kind of surplus urban growth scenario that Lamb and Allard envision.

 

This, they said, is in keeping with the three driving philosophical principles of the Permanent Culture movement: care of people, care of the Earth, and the return of surplus to the community.

 

The overall consumer market for this yield is considerable as well, they believe.

 

"The tide is turning," Allard pointed out. "More people now want to leave this world better than they found it." 

 

"There's a lot of folks with health issues, that seek out good, clean, nutrient dense food, and need it for survival," added Lamb.

 

Berkshire Earth Regenerators will be hosting a first glimpse open house for the public at the Melville Street property on Friday, Sept. 4, with tours beginning at 4:30 in conjunction with 1st Fridays Artswalk. They will explain the methods used in this first phase and discuss their plans for additional phases of work on the Shire City property.

 

More information on Berkshire Earth Regenerators and permaculture can be found on their Facebook page.