CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK
BWednesday,
October 17, 2012
Panhandle
Living
JULIE LANDIS Review Staff
Woven together like a tapestry, theseparate but cohesive parts of TaprootFarm make the 20-acre spread a joyfulplace to visit.
In their fourth year of building ahomestead farm, Beth and Tim Reesehave accomplished more than mostpeople could imagine. After living inArlington, Va. for 25 years and raisingthree children there, Beth and Timwere looking forward to the next stageof their lives.
Experiencing an empty nest aftersending their youngest off to college,they found a small piece of land justoutside of Capon Bridge.
Not sure exactly what they would bedoing, the Reeses did have some goalsin mind �— to live healthy by growingtheir own food, to have a homesteadwhere family and friends could gatherand to foster creativity.
�“We�’re letting it evolve organical-ly,�” Beth said.
From an artist�’s studio to goats andhoneybees, the farm has a little sam-pling of everything. When you arrive,the two farm dogs, Banjo and Pick,greet you with gusto. Both dogs wereadopted from a pet rescue site. TheReeses drove six hours to adopt Pickwho had originally lived in Bloomery.
The Reeses�’ house is built out ofStructurally Insulated Panel (SIP) con-struction that involves sandwiching in-sulating foam between two structuralfacings. This results in constructionthat is strong, energy efficient and costeffective.
The Reeses use geothermal heatingand cooling, solar panels and radiantheat in their floors to make their homemore energy efficient. A passive solardesign was also used when buildingthe home to capture the sun and windand utilize their power most effective-ly.
Across the creek from their homesets a little outbuilding that is not un-like a fairy cottage. The artist�’s studio,dubbed Querencia, is called a cob cot-tage and is built out of straw bales andclay from the farm.
The cottage was built as a workshopmodel where people interested inlearning about natural building couldobtain firsthand knowledge on how tobuild a structure using all natural ma-terials.
Local residents along with peoplefrom all over the east coast signed upfor the workshop taught by Sigi Kodoof Down to Earth Designs. All localmaterials were used in the construc-tion, and over the course of buildingQuerencia, hundreds of workshop par-ticipants were involved.
The participants shared the commoninterest and passion of building naturalhomes. The spirit of the building pro-ject was reminiscent of an old-fash-ioned barn raising.
The finished workshop is able towithstand earthquakes, flooding, fireand hurricanes. A variety of art pro-jects, from sculpting to painting, takeplace within the walls of the work-shop. Beth also holds meditation sit-ting groups there every week.
On the rooftops of their home andstudio, small green plants make the ar-eas into living spaces to capture rain-water and reduce runoff.
As far as farming, Beth and Tim areworking to make their farm sustain-able. The farm has, but is not limitedto, a vegetable and fruit garden, fruittrees, honeybees, chickens, hogs andlambs.
�“It�’s small scale and sustainable �—we are doing a homestead,�” Tim said.
Their garden is called �“potager,�”which is a French word for soup. Inessence, the garden is an eclectic mixof all types of farming. There areraised beds that can be covered withlow tunnels to sustain the crops untilJanuary. Crops also grow in long rowsthat are not tilled. Vertical spaces areused to grow climbing vines like
beans and cucumbers. Herbs, berry bushes and fruit trees
are interspersed among the vegetablesand colorful flowers. A pair of guineafowl prances around the garden andeats insects and other garden pests.
This half-acre garden is surroundedby a 7-foot high deer fence that makesthe area feel like you are walking intoa private, secluded space.
Next to the garden, is a permacul-ture patch that appeared on its ownthis spring where the hogs had previ-ously been kept. The patch has pro-duced a bountiful supply of fruits andvegetables.
A compost pile and manure from theanimals help the Reeses replenish the
soil that has been depleted by hun-dreds of years of farming. They groweverything organically, so pesticidesor other harmful sprays are not used.Instead, crop rotation is utilized to foolthe intruders.
�“There is no such thing as a spotlessapple in nature,�” Beth said.
The animals that live on the farmstay in mobile quarters so they can beeasily moved around the farm togreener pastures. This helps to fertilizethe soil and prevents the animals fromdepleting the grass.
The animals include Boer goats,Katahdin sheep, Hampshire-Berkshirehogs and three different breeds ofchickens. The Reeses want all of their
animals to have grass under their feet,fresh air and sunshine.
�“All of the breeds are relativelydocile and weather-hardy. We want theanimals to be outside,�” Tim said.
Many of the animals come with in-teresting stories. The goats were ac-quired from a mother of a 4-H studentfrom Martinsburg who had lost inter-est in them when she began dating. Allof the goats have been named aftermusicians, and the lambs share theirnames with first ladies.
�“We have small flocks that rotate inand out of the farm as we processthem,�” Beth said.
The Reeses also participate in WorldWide Opportunities on Organic Farms(WWOOF) where interns come andstay at the farm to learn more aboutorganic farming. So far, the Reeseshave hosted volunteers from London,Chicago and Charleston.
The interns live on the farm forabout a month and are treated like partof the family.
�“We love to have young peoplearound �— they are full of energy,�”Beth said.
Their three children, Jenny, Kateand Allen, are all in their 20s and loveto visit the farm and bring friends withthem.
The Reeses are in the process ofbuilding a small barn so the animalscan have shelter from the elements.They are also installing a high-tunnelgreenhouse in the near future withhelp from the National ResourcesConservation Service.
Their beehives sit next to the smallfruit orchard to give the honeybeeseasy access to fruit blossoms. A smallpond has recently been built for fish-ing, watering livestock, irrigation andrecreation.
So much happens at Taproot Farmsbut the atmosphere is so relaxing thatit is hard to believe that it is a workingfarm. The Reeses insist that they havemade many mistakes along the way,but the mistakes are not evident andthe farm is warm and welcoming.
�“We are in awe of people who dothis so much better than us. We arelearning all of the time,�” Beth said.�“We have the basics of life on ourfarmstead and have the door open tofamily and friends.�”
The Artist’s Studio (below) includes a sitting nook and a “nest” ceilinginside. Outside you’ll find a cob oven and a meditative labyrinth.
Beth and Tim outside their Honesty Store, where you can buy their farmfresh food on the honor system.
A NOrganic EVoLUTION
Taproot Farm mushrooms into a hub for arts, food and contemplation that owners
Beth and Tim Reese simply call home
LIFE ON THE FARM Tim picks tomatoes, pigs chow down, Beth feeds the sheep, and Tim and Beth keep bees.
Vinegar talesNora Kimble, Weekly Chat, Page 6B
Apple timeMelinda Chambers, Homespun, Page 4B
