Plant and Animal
Diversity
Diversity is the
key to ecosystem health. And since 1998, we’ve tried to grow as
many different plants as possible. Our farm includes blueberries,
plums, cherries, hazelnuts, kiwis, raspberries, elderberries, more
than 30 kinds of culinary and medicinal herbs, and over 20 varieties
of flowers! Our peppers, tomatoes, and other annuals are interwoven
with our perennial plantings, to create a balanced set of gardens.
This balance enables
us to avoid using poisons or artificial fertilizers to control bug
populations, disease, and plant growth. Everything we grow is natural
and organic - which means our sauces and salsas all taste as fresh
and good as they’re supposed to.
A quick walk around
our gardens will show you 120 kinds of plants representing nearly
260 plant varieties. This sort of representation of the natural
world increases the diversity of all organisms, including insects,
birds, and wildlife. This ecosystem
also offers visitors to the farm a respite from the overcrowding
of urban and suburban life.
List of Plants
- Amaranth
- Angelica
- Arnica Montana
- Azalea
- Basil (Large-Leaf; Purple)
- Beech
- Beets (Chioggia; Bull’s Blood)
- Betony
- Black Walnut
- Blueberry (2 varieties)
- Borage
- Boxwood
- Broccoli de Rapa
- Buddleia (Butterfly
Bush) - Purple
- Carrots (3 varieties)
- Catnip
- Celosia (Fire Chief)
- Centaura Macrocephalia (Bronze Coneflower)
- Cherry (Windsor; Bing)
- Chiles - 58 varieties
- Chives
- Cilantro
- Collards
- Columbine (3 varieties)
- Comfrey
- Coreopsis (Tickseed; Lanceleaf)
- Crabapple
- Cucumber (Armenian Yard Long; White)
- Currant - Red
- Dawn Redwood
- Dill
- Dogwood - Kousa (Asian)
- Drying Peas - Cowpea (2 varieties)
- Echinacea (Magnus; Purpureum)
- Elderberry (Adams; Johns)
- Fennel (Foeniculum Vulgare; Bronze [perennial])
- Feverfew
- Figs - Brown Turkey
- Filbert (Hazelnut) 2 varieties
- Gloriosa Daisy (Brown-Eyed
Daisy)
- Gomphrena
- Gooseberry (Pixwell; Poor Boy)
- Gourds
- Green Beans - 6 varieties
- Hawkweed - Orange
- Hawthorn
- Helichrysum (Strawflower)
- 3 varieties
- Hibiscus
- Horehound (Officinalis;
Greek)
- Horseradish
- Hosta
- Iris – 2 varieties
- Jasmine
- Kale (Red Russian;
Lactinada)
- Kiwi - 2 varieties
- Kohlrabi
- Lady’s Mantle
- Larkspur
- Lemon Balm
- Lettuce - 6 varieties
- Lilac
- Lily (Daylily; Blackberry
Lily)
- Maple
- Marshmallow
- Melon - Early
Black Rock
- Monarda - Bee Balm
- Mustard - (Florida Broadleaf; Magnum [purple])
- Nicandra (Shoofly
Plant)
- Oak
- Okra (Clemson Spineless;
Burgundy Hybrid; Cowhorn)
- Onions (White; Evergreen
Bunching)
- Oregano (Greek;
Golden)
- Osage Orange
- Oxeye Daisy
- Parsley
- Peas -
4 varieties
- Peony -
2 varieties
- Periwinkle -
Variegated
- Pine
- Plane Tree
- Plum -
2 varieties
- Pumpkin
- Queen Anne’s Lace
- Raspberries -
Latham
- Rhododendron
- Rhubarb
- Rose (Red; Pink)
- Rudbeckia (Black-Eyed
Susan)
- Sage
- Sedum
- Snakeroot
- Snapdragon -
Yellow
- Star Magnolia
- Stinging Nettle
- Strawberry -
Tristar
- Sumac
- Sunflowers -
Maximillian (Native)
- Sweet Peppers -
12 varieties
- Sweet Annie
- Tansy
- Tomatillos (Large-Fruited;
Indian Strain)
- Tomatoes -
11 varieties
- Turnip
- Valerian -
2 varieties
- Viburnum -
2 varieties
- Violet -
Purple
- Walnut -
Butternut
- Watermelon
- Wheat
- Willow
- Yarrow (Fern-Leaf;
Millefolium)
- Zucchini (Dark Green;
Round)
We also have found
the following birds. Most of these birds are relatively new residents,
coming only as a response to the farm’s increased plant diversity.
List of Birds
- American Goldfinch
- Barn Swallow
- Blue Jay
- Bluebird
- Buzzard
- Canada Goose
- Cardinal
- Chickadee
- Downy-Headed Woodpecker
- Heron
- Hummingbird,
Sparrow
- Junco
- Mourning Dove
- Nuthatch
- Pileated Woodpecker
- Red-Headed Woodpecker
- Red-Tailed Hawk
- Red-Winged Blackbird
- Robin
- Turkey Vulture
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