Urban Edge Farm
The Urban Edge – Designer Benjamin Weiss – This Conestoga Valley, Pennsylvania ripairan agroforest, apothecary yard and refuge is planting and cultivating native and edible, medicinal and compost crops in a neglected wet meadow as a forest garden, supporting bees, bats and fungi. The 2 acre residential and community garden site in the floodplan of the Conestoga River will cycle high-value crops through a related apothecary business and expand into similar terrain along an historic river corridor.
The farm has been granted Lancaster City’s first ever “Community Gardening” zoning variance. The focus of the farm is on agroforestry practices including alley-cropping, forest gardening with native riparian tree crops, edible and medicinal mushroom cultivation, as well as biochar and compost prouction, beekeeping, experimentation with regenerative forestry techniques and production of medicinal herbs for use by the farm’s sister business, Susquehanna Apothecary.
Benjamin Weiss
Benjamin Weiss, owner of Susquehana Sustainable Enterprises LLC, is a certified permaculture designer and teacher, a father, activist, herbalist, forager, grdener, brewer, musician and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania. He has facilitated PDCs and many other classes and workshops, designed and managed five farms, forages professionally and continues to develop a system for regerating wild ecosystems .
Benjamin Weiss, owner of Susquehanna Sustainable Enterprises LLC, is a certified permaculture designer and teacher, a father, activist, herbalist, forager, gardener, brewer, musician, and writer from Lancaster, Pennsylvania.
He studied natural building, ecovillage design, and permaculture at The Farm Ecovillage Training Center, received a permaculture teacher certification from CRMPI, completed a beekeeping apprenticeship at The Horn Farm Center, recieved a certificate in forest garden design with Dave Jacke, and has studied herbalism with Sarah Preston of Radiance, and shamanic dreaming techniques with Adhi Moonien Two-Owls.
Benjamin has facilitated permaculture design courses and many other classes and workshops, has designed and managed five farms, forages professionally, and continues to develop the a system for regenerating wild ecosystems with his friend and colleague Wilson Alvarez.