Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program

Ghent, New York

Organization description: 

The Farmscape Ecology Program (FEP) was founded in 2003 and conducts participatory research and outreach about the rural, semi-agricultural landscape of Columbia County and surrounding areas.  We are a multi-disciplinary initiative and explore the landscape through many lenses, including ecology, agro-ecology, history, and culture.  The Farmscape Ecology Program is part of the Hawthorne Valley Association, a not-for-profit committed to social and cultural renewal through the integration of education, agriculture and the arts.

Organization Goals:

The Farmscape Ecology Program is dedicated to encouraging an informed compassion for place.  We conduct and widely share research about the local landscape with the goal of stimulating its exploration and building love and knowledge of the land.  One of our enduring themes has been to document the relationships between farms and nature – both what farms can provide for nature and what nature can provide for farms.

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Phenology Project Description:

The Farmscape Ecology Program’s Phudd Hill and Creekhouse phenology trails were launched in 2016 and are managed by Claudia Knab-Vispo, FEP botanist, and Anna Duhon, FEP Cultural Research and Outreach Coordinator.  Both trails are monitored by Farmscape Ecology Program staff and interns, and are sometimes used as outdoor classrooms and learning opportunities for school groups and other community members.  We are also working with a historic dataset of New York phenology observations from the 19th century through our Progress of the Seasons project, and have been collaborating with New York Phenology Project to make a digital version of that dataset available online and to create related school curriculum. 

To learn more about the Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program or to get involved: 

• Website: Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program

• The Progress of the Seasons Historical Phenology Project: http://hvfarmscape.org/seasons

• Contacts: Claudia Knab-Vispo, claudia@hawthornevalleyfarm.org or Anna Duhon, anna@hawthornevalleyfarm.org