Every year there’s always some experiment and inquiry up Anson’s sleeve, and now and then he gets into the thick of it.
The state of our agricultural system calls for novel approaches, and the idea of the “farm as laboratory” runs deep at Full Fork Farm.
The USDA has a program called Sustainable Agriculture, Research, & Education (SARE) that has a grant program farmers can apply for to propose, test, and publish research projects.
Anson has conducted three research projects, which you can click below to learn more.
Testing a Novel Zipline/Curtain Netting Exclusion System for the Protection of Perennial Berries… (FNE24-074)
Between 2024-2026, we designed and evaluated a novel trellis system, which demonstrated a low-cost system for excluding birds from out 2-acre honeyberry crop.
Effect of Container Depth on Taprooted Seedling Root Morphology and Post-Transplant Establishment Success
(FNE20-947)
Between 2020-2022, we ran an experiment looking into the effect that container depth has on the initial establishment of our 6-acres of chestnuts orchard. We found that while 6”-9” deep containers produced tree seedlings with the most aerial growth, 15” deep containers produced a healthier root system with trees that exceeded other experimental groups in the field.
Building Soil Fertility with Spent Brewers’ Grains
(FNE17-864)
Utilizing a waste organic byproduct from Oxbow Brewery, we studied the effect spent brewers grains alongside bokashi composting has on soil fertility in 2017. We recorded an increase in crop yield, and interestingly the ability for late-season crops to withstand frost damage.
Ongoing, NON-SARE Experiments…
BEAM compost production and application
Chlorella vulgaris cultivation/application
Farm-scale wine cap spawn production
August overseeding of an oat cover crop in the walking/vehicle paths of the farm’s strawberry crop
Rotating Cross-Arm (RCA) blackberry high tunnel trellis system
