Fall/Winter Digital Newsleaf 2024

In this issue, we'll discover the true science behind nature's medicine, tips to create change through civic engagement, and read "ground-breaking" details about the future of Long Branch Farm & Trails. There are also lots of engaging and exciting seasonal programs you won't want to miss this season!

What are we doing and

why are we doing it?

Internally, the purpose of our foraged

and farmed operation is visitor

engagement, but you can think of

it as a way of farming—borrowing

from multiple approaches—that

grows interesting things for you

to do, learn, eat, cultivate, make,

and enjoy related to native plants.

Whether it’s through purposeful

work, learning opportunities, or

even beer brewed with native edible

plants in collaboration with a local

brewery to create a “conservation in a

glass” experience, it’s all about using

native edible foods to help visitors

build relationships with nature. It’s

a celebration of hyper-local native

foods that speaks to Cincinnati

Nature Center’s mission of Inspiring

Conservation and its Plant

Native initiative.

Native

In keeping with our Plant Native

focus, the species we grow are nearly

all native to our region. Like native

pollinator plants, native edibles are

hardy once established, and they feed

native wildlife.

Restrictive in some ways, focusing

solely on edible native species has

allowed us to dive deep into their

botany, history, and related foodways.

You won’t find apples from (Eastern

Asia) or cabbage (native to Europe),

but you’ll delight over the honey

caramel flavor of American persimmon

(Diospyros virginiana) and Ohio’s

own “taste of the tropics,” pawpaw

(Asimina triloba).

Perennial

You might be familiar with garden

annuals, those species that are planted

from seed each year. Our focus is

on long-lived, mostly woody trees

and shrubs with herbaceous plants

underneath. Growing perennials saves

time and allows us to invest in plants

over the long term. It also assures

we always have living roots in the

soil, protecting it from erosion. We

continually add wood chips and old

hay on top of the ground, which soil

life will consume over time, releasing

nutrients for the plants to use.

What’s Growing on

at Long Branch?

A Foraged and Farmed Update

By Jason Neumann, Public Programs Manager

“It’s a celebration of hyper-local native foods that

speaks to Cincinnati Nature Center’s mission”

Which plants do you

pick to grow and why?

New terminology will help expound on this question. We are farming a native

perennial polyculture. Examining each word in the term:

Our foraged and farmed operation is partly aimed at bringing back a true sense of

"farm" to Long Branch Farm & Trails, but for us, it's much more than merely foraging.

It's generated a fair amount of inquiry, so it's time to explain some of the purpose,

philosophy, and principles behind what we're doing.

4 Newsleaf | Fall/Winter 2024

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