“Permanent agriculture.” In 1929 J. Russell Smith coined this term to propose a revolutionary idea—lets move agriculture away from so much tilling and annual crop production that makes a desert of paradise, and instead focus on long-lived perennial plants, mostly trees. He called these products—fruits, nuts, timber—tree crops, and it was a damn good idea before the dust bowl hit the American Midwe
st and it continues to be a damned good idea today. Elmwood Farm is a family farm in Sutherlin, Virginia. The old family homestead is the new site of a members-only, pick-your-own orchard under development. Featuring a diverse polyculture of fruit and nut trees, berry-bearing shrubs, and perennial vegetables the orchard will be unlike anything in the area. But it takes time to establish an orchard. While we're grafting trees—many of them near-extinct Old Southern and heritage varieties—we're grafting a few extras for sale. This helps fund the launch of our new family business, and also gets these trees out there! Preserving heirloom plants and sharing those genetics (and those flavors!) far and wide is a big part of what we aim to do. You can follow this page for regular updates. An email newsletter is coming soon with details on where and when you can buy our plants and also developments with the orchard. You can peruse our website for more information on all our trees and other plants, from their care and feeding to recipes and alternative uses.
