Beth Schermerhorn
Ecological Designer: Urban Agriculture & Food Systems Specialist
1031 Toppin Blvd., Harrisonburg, VA 22801 • (804) 221-6655 • schermerhorn13@csld.edu
Ecological Designer • Food Systems Planner • Community Organizer • Farmer My love for the outdoors and the natural world started for me as a child running through the woods of western Hanover County, Virginia. I grew up running through the woods and streams and planting tomatoes in our family garden. During my first year of college, I learned about factory and industrialized farming, climate change, GMOs, soil erosion, and social inequality; this awareness convinced me that I needed to change the direction of my life to bring positive solutions into a world that seemed to be crumbling.
Ecological Regeneration
Community Leadership
Since then, I have passionately worked to understand both human and natural design. In my work farming with people experiencing homelessness and recent immigrants in Harrisonburg, Virginia, I saw how tending the soil can bring hope and inspriation in times of struggle. My time in Guatemala living alongside indigenous refugees who had survived a gruesome civil war taught me how living closely with the land and your neighbors is true community resilience. Through design that is informed by careful observation, we can create habitats, homes, communities, and cities that benefit people and their surrounding landscape. My work revolves around design and planning projects that are ecologically regenerative, depend on community leadership and participation, and are grounded in practical, placebased design solutions. If a project incorporates these components along with careful observation and analysis, a successful design is close at hand. Thank you for taking the time to review my work,
Place-Based Solutions
Beth Schermerhorn (804) 221-6655 schermerhorn13@csld.edu
contents Simple Gifts Homesteads Residential Farming Community Landscape Design Amherst, MA Fall 2012
1-4
Setting The Table Increasing Food Security in Lowell, MA Prepared for the Lowell Food Security Coalition Winter 2012
5-8
Gather At The Center Core Facility Master Plan Woolman Hill Quaker Retreat Center in Deerfield, MA Spring 2013
9-12
In the Field Graphics, sketches & photographs
13-16
Simple Gifts Homesteads: Residential Farming Community Landscape Design
September - December 2012
The clients’ properties rest in North Amherst south of Pine Street. Nestled within the Connecticut River Valley, their homes lie east of the North Amherst Community Land Trust where the clients operate Simple Gifts Farm. The northern residence sits less than fifty feet south of busy Pine Street, with only a few trees and shrubs between the house and the road. The expansive landscape of the farm gives both a great view to the west, but also leaves the homes exposed to western winds and afternoon sun.
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Project Goals
Community Goals (for whole site) 1. Increased opportunity for social interaction through: Shared social areas Improved access across all properties Increased chance of serendipitous encounters Shared fruit and berry production 2. Increased privacy from Pine Street 3. Increased protection from the elements 4. Maintained views to the west
Residence
Camper Trampoline
Shared Household Goals (for each property)
Remnant Gravel Piles
1. Age-appropriate play areas 2. Kitchen gardens 3. Roofwater catchment for use in gardens 4. Sheds 5. Enhanced home social areas
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Playground
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The properties run north to south, just east of Simple Gifts Farm and south of Pine Street in Amherst, MA. The property has a slight western aspect, with a grade of less than 5% across the majority of the property. Simple Gifts Farm
Tree Fort
Farm Road
Residence Utilities boxes
Northern Clients’ Residence
1
Simple Gifts Homesteads • Project Overview
Clients’ Residence
Southern Residence (not clients)
Well
Homes can be seen through woods
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105 Feet
Summary Analysis The open landscape provides great views but exposure to harsh wind and afternoon sun. The open landscape also brings noise and a lack of privacy from Pine Street. Therefore, there are currently a few areas where clients can be comfortable outside, but these areas do not coincide with a good view to the west.
Cold Northwestern Winter Winds
Other Views Vehicle Movement
Soils dry out quickly and will need frequent watering in food-growing areas due to well draining soils and the lack of shade.
See page 13 for Google SketchUp sun shade model.
Heavy Foot Movement Light Foot Movement Noise Line
Western Winds
Social Areas
View of Simple Gifts Farm & distant mountains
Areas with positive views to the west coincide with areas exposed to wind and sun. A major design consideration will be preserving the views to the west while screening the western sun, the noise from Pine Street, and the northwestern and western winds.
Noise
Home Entrances School Bus Stop Children’s Play Areas Rotational Grazing Areas Mailboxes Positive View Negative View Afternoon Heat 45
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Hot Summer Afternoon Sun
105 Feet
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Simple Gifts Homesteads • Summary Analysis 2
Final Design The final design meets the clients primary goal of increasing community interaction between all families by providing a centralized social area where everyone can meet for food and relaxation. Screening the northwestern side of each home increases privacy from Pine Street and protects each home from cold winter winds. A trail through the woods connects each home with the woods and with the other homes. The edible forest garden provides plenty of fruits and berries for each house throughout the year, and creates a buffer between Simple Gifts Farm and the homes while preserving their view to the west. Each home now has improved storage areas and enhanced home social areas where each family can enjoy their personal space. Water catchment on both homes catches and stores roof water in a cistern and in the soil, replenishing underground water aquifers, reducing watering costs, and enhancing the forest gardens resilience during drought periods. The sunset nook’s simple benches are perfect places to watch the sun set over the farm.
Evergreen screen and soil berm provide privacy, reduce wind, and reduce noise from street. A
Water from this side of the roof is caught by a lined trench which funnels water into a pipe that runs underground to the forest garden swale. The deck’s pergola creates a shaded seating area and steps off the southern edge onto a stone patio with a dining table and chairs for a family of five. A small trail guides walkers to small areas within the woods for contemplation and play areas for the children.
A’
The outdoor kitchen and fire pit sit below a large white pine in a central location for all three families.
An edible forest garden encompasses the western side of the driveway. The combination of fruits, berries and herbs mimics a forest and provides food and interest year round. The driveway has been narrowed to ten feet reducing impervious space and given a slight curve for added appeal.
Evergreens screen home from road and protect house and immediate social areas from cold winter winds. 45
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Simple Gifts Homesteads •Final Design
105 Feet
Design Details Section A - A’
Red Maple
Pine Street
soil berm with mountain laurel screen
main entry
Edible Forest Garden Plant Pallette Common Name Shrubs
Botanical Name
Goumi
Eleagnus multiflora
New Jersey Tea Perennials Blue False Indigo
Baptisia australis
Anise Hyssop Turkish Rocket Good King Henry Green and gold Daylily
Section A - A’ illustrates how the soil berm and evergreen vegetation effectively block sight and noise coming from Pine Street. Shade trees cool the house and add further buffereing from winds in the summer. The back of the home invites the family to spend more time outdoors relaxing under the pergola, eating family meals on the stone patio, or playing ball in the grass.
White Oak
Sugar Maple
Ceanothus americanus
Functions edible berries, Nfixer n-fixer, benefical attractor (june), leaves for tea
N-fixer insectary, edible Agastache foeniculum leaves edible leavesarugula Bunias orientalis edible leaves and Chenopodium bonus-henricus shoots - spinach insectary (AprilChrysogonum viginianum June) edible buds, flowers, tubers Hemerocallis fulva
Russian Comfrey
Symphytum x uplandicum
Yarrow Asparagus
Achillea millifolium Asperagus officinalis
Coreopsis Strawberry
Coreopsis verticillata Fragaria x ananassa
Jerusalem artichoke Rhubarb German Chamomile Virginia Sweetspire Bearberry Lingonberry Lemon Balm Mountain Mint Archangel Columbine Butterfly Weed New England Aster Tick seed
Helianthus tuberosus Rheum x cultorum Chamaemelum nobile Itea virginiana Arctostaphyloss spp. Vaccinium vitis-idaea Melissa officinalis Pycnanthemum spp Angelica archangelica Aquilegia canadensis Asclepias tuberosa Aster novae-angliae Coreopsis verticillata
dyn acc (K,P,Ca,Mg, Fe, Silica) insectary (JuneSept), dyn acc (K, P) edible shoots insectary (JuneSept) edible fruit insectary (AprilJune), edible tuber edible leaf stalks dyn acc (K, P, Ca)
pergola over stone deck with dining hardy kiwi patio
kitchen garden with teepee trellis
grass play area
edible forest edge
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Plant pallettes aligned with specific site conditions allowed the clients to have flexibility in plant arrangement and selection while specimen trees, and larger fruiting trees were placed in specific locations. Different colors represent a plant pallette matched with site conditions and client goals.
Edible Forest Garden Forest Edge Shade Trees Kitchen Garden Rain Garden Specimen Tree
leaf tea leaf tea edible stalk -sweet flower pollonator flower flower
Evergreen
Simple Gifts Homesteads • Design Details 4
Setting The the Table: Table: Increasing Food Security in Lowell, MA
3-Person team; Beth Schermerhorn, Sierra McCartney, Amy Nyman January - April 2013
Project Summary Setting the Table:Towards Greater Food Security in Lowell, Massachusetts, evaluates the barriers Lowell residents face in obtaining food and recommends actions that might be taken to further food security in the city. This report was created for the Lowell Food Security Coalition, a collaboration of forty community organizations, formed to help residents become more self-reliant and food-secure. Once the center of the textile industry, attracting workers from all over the world, Lowell today is still recovering from the departure of that and other industries. As some Lowell residents struggle to make ends meet, they can face the added challenge of finding food that is nutritious and culturally appropriate, in this city of immigrants.
STABILITY Resilient food system. AFFORDABILITY Able to afford food.
What is
FOOD SECURITY?
PROXIMITY Able to physically get food. CHOICE Able to access culturally-appropriate foods. PREPARATION Able to prepare food.
Illustration By: Sierra McCartney
Farm-related infographics helped to explain concepts like food security to the community. By interviewing Lowell residents, such as this Cambodian refugee who needs government assistance to meet her family’s food needs, the design team was able to create place-based recommendations that could improve food security throughout the city.
5 Setting The Table • Project Summary
Factors Contributing to Food Insecurity in Lowell Proximity
Affordability Portions of The Acre have 64 percent of residents living below the poverty level, with a median income of about $14,000.
2010 Household Median Income USDA Designated Food Desert
Food Desert
In Lowell, the USDA designated a large area in the southern part of the city as a food desert. This area has a high concentration of low-income residents and in the southern portion of the designated area residents have to travel over a mile to reach a large food market. In the northern section, residents live within a halfmile of Phnom Penh Bankok Supermarket and Khmer Angkor Market, but these international markets may not meet the USDA’s definition of a large food market.
It is difficult for many people in Lowell to afford enough food to meet their individual and family needs. In Lowell, 17.5 percent of residents live below the federal poverty level (FPL), compared to 10.5 percent in Massachusetts. The federal poverty level is identified as an income of $23,050 a year for a family of four. Research shows that, on average, families need an income of about twice that level to cover basic expenses. Immigrant and refugee status, and associated language barriers, contribute to the high poverty levels in Lowell. Language barriers increase the challenges residents are faced with in finding a job where they can earn enough to secure their food needs.
Setting The Table • Factors Contributing to Food Insecurity
6
Recommendations Community Food Resource Centers
The goal of a Community Food Resource Center is to bring different organizations together and place them within the neighborhoods of residents who need them. A Community Food Resource Center in each neighborhood, in an existing underutilized building, could potentially respond to the specific needs of that residential neighborhood. Resource Centers have the potential to be a single location for a variety of food and urban agricultre services ranging from WIC and SNAP sign-up locations to summer youth gardening camps.
Action Items • Hire a Programming Coordinator who could oversee the development of a Community Food Resource Center and organize food, nutrition, gardening and assistance information. • Identify Lowell neighborhoods that have a high concentration of food insecure individuals such as low-income and elderly residents, and single mothers, for a pilot Community Food Resource Center. • Collaborate with organizations such as the Coalition for a Better Acre to understand what is already happening in the identified community, and collaborate with existing programs. • Conduct a listening campaign to engage the community and better understand their specific needs. • Assemble a programming committee composed of interested community leaders. • Identify facilities within the neighborhood that fulfill the spatial requirements of a resource center, based on the identified needs of the community. For example, a community kitchen requires an existing kitchen that can be certified as a commercial kitchen or space to build a commercial kitchen. • Develop and distribute promotional and educational materials in English, and translated into Spanish, Portuguese, and Khmer as appropriate for neighborhoods in which a resource center will be located.
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Setting The Table • Recommendations
An abandoned building such as this one in the Highlands neighborhood could be transformed into a vibrant center that supports food initiatives like nutrition education, cooking classes, food production and processing, access to agriculture supplies, and support for new food businesses.
Before
Demonstration Rooftop Garden
Illustration By: Sierra McCartney
After
Recommendations Healthy Corner Stores
The healthy corner store program offered in Lowell has successfully made available more fresh fruits and vegetables while reducing sodas, candy, processed, and other junk foods in corner stores and making healthy and fresh foods more accessible to WIC participants and other residents who are seeking more fresh produce in their diets. If Lowell were to adjust its program based on the model of DC’s Healthy Corner Store Program (see below) by increasing their incentives and support for store-owners, corner stores can become not only a place where residents can go to buy healthier foods, but also a place where local foods, farmers, organizations, and cultures are celebrated.
Case Study: D.C. Central Kitchen, Washington, D.C. In 2011, the D.C. Department of Health awarded $300,000 to DCCK to launch a six-month pilot project with thirty corner stores in some of the most impoverished areas of the city. DCCK assumed most of the risk and responsibility by providing local fruits and vegetables, healthy snacks prepared by youth in a culinary training program, a $1,500 mini-grant to purchase shelving and refrigeration, business assistance, and nutritional information. In the
The average corner store that currently sells candy, soda, and processed food could become the neighborhood market for healthy, affordable, and culturally appropriate foods featuring food grown locally or even from inside the city limits.
span of the six-month pilot, DCCK sales to corner stores went from several hundred dollars
Before
per month to over $10,000 per month. There are several components that made the project successful: DCCK phased in pricing of products for store-owners. During the first two months, the products were given to store owners for free with suggested sale prices for each item. During the third and fourth months, products were sold to the stores at cost, and in the final two months products were sold at normal wholesale prices. This allowed store-owners to see if the products would sell before using their own finances to purchase food. In addition, store-owners met regularly with business consultants who assisted with product placement and store design to feature these healthy products over unhealthy foods.
(Photo Courtesy: DC Central Kitchen)
After Illustration By: Sierra McCartney
Setting The Table • Recommendations 8
Gather At The Center
Core Facility Master Plan for Woolman Hill Quaker Retreat Center 2-Person team; Beth Schermerhorn, Anna K.M. Best April - June 2013
Programmatic Elements
Improve Guest Facilities: • New Guest House: 10-12 guests, 1,800 square feet, universally accessible, close to Core Area. • Bathroom Facilities: For guests staying in private rustic cabins outside of the Core Area. 600 square feet. • Pavilion: Pole Barn for 150 guests with access to kitchen facilities in Conference Center. Enhance Arrival Experience: • Parking: 50 Permanent spaces, 50 overflow spaces. • Conference Center: Improved access for guests and service vehicles. • Arrival Experience: Main entry visible, parking visible, clear signs, landscape directs guests. Increase Privacy for Staff Living at Woolman Hill: • Staff Housing: Privacy from Core Area
Core Area
The main entrance at Woolman Hill Quaker Retreat Center, while beautiful, is confusing for guests. The design alternatives provide options to improve the arrival experience with additional guest parking, new entrance options for the Conference Center, and a landscape that intuitively guides guests to their destination.
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Gather At The Center • Project Overview
Project Focus Area
In Deerfield, Massachusetts, Woolman Hill owns 110 acres of land, 92.5 of which are in forest. The remaining 17.5 acres are in open fields, where most of the buildings are and where most activities take place. The project focuses on the 17.5 acres of open field and the buildings and roads within this area.
Summary Analysis The 1.2 acres of buildable land within the Core Area at Woolman Hill have a combination of buildable soils and slopes, solar gain, easy access to existing septic lines, accessibility for people and vehicles, appropriate distances from property setbacks, views, and 200’ buffers around wetland areas. With viable land for new buildings within the Core Area, buildings will be sited with consideration of the clients’ goal of clarifying the entrance experience and creating spaces for both group and personal reflection.
Buildable Area Overhead Electric Wires Underground Electric Wires Stream Underground Water Pipes Observed Wet Area Underground Water Tank for Fire Emergency Septic Tank & Leach Chambers
Core Area
Outhouse Underground Septic Pipe
Co
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Soil Suitable for Buildings with Basements and Septic Leach Fields
err
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d
Areas that receive more than 6 hours of sun year-round Private Staff Areas Important Vantage Points
Gather At The Center • Summary Analysis 10
Design Concept: Buildings, Roads, and Land Use Nelson House
With the Guest House, Pavilion, and Conference Center located close together, guests can enjoy retreats and other events in a central location. The buildings frame the view to the east of a wildflower meadow and create a cozy grass gathering space between the buildings. The Bath House is centrally located between the four retreat cabins, but away from the main event area, making the Bath House equally accessible to cabin guests. Moving the driveway north of the Guest House allows staff living in the Brown House to enter and exit without disturbing events.
Sunrise Cabin Brown House
Barn
New Building Renovated Building Proposed Trail Bath House Red House
Office
Pavilion Conference Center
Proposed Sign Proposed Light
Meeting House
Sustainable Vegetable Farming Reforest: Native Trees & Shrubs
Core Area
Saltbox Cabin
Coppice/Pollard Forestry Edible Forest Gardens Green House
Wet Meadows Upland Meadows and Pasture N.T.S.
11 Gather At The Center• Design Concept
Core Area Design: Gather on the Green Gather on the Green arranges the Conference Center, Pavilion, and new Guest House around a common green, similar to many green spaces on college campuses. The spaces between these buildings creates a comfortable outdoor area for group discussions, and an overflow area for events in the Pavilion. A path sweeps from the parking lot to the main entry on the Conference Center, now on the north side. Edible trees and shrubs surround the Meeting House, creating a quiet outdoor worship space.
1
Doubled gravel parking lot has 44 spaces.
2
At a new driveway intersection, the Conference Center’s main entrance is clearly visible ahead, while the Guest House is screened with evergreens. Accessible parking and an enclosed dumpster lie to the east behind the Guest House, making them easy to get to and from the Guest House.
3
At the main arrival intersection, the main entrance into the Conference Center and the main parking are clearly visible.
4
A wide path sweeps from the main parking lot to the new main entrance of the Conference Center. It is a pedestrian path that is drivable for service vehicle access. Guests can get a clear view, as they arrive, of the new main entry on the north side of the Conference Center. The existing main entance is on the south side of the Conference Center.
5
The Bath House replaces the Blacksmith Shed on a small quiet green near the Office and Red House.
6
An outdoor ring is a gathering space for worship just outside the Meeting House. Accessible parking adjacent to the Meeting House’s accessible ramp is convenient for worshipers with limited mobility.
See page13 for cross-section drawing.
A
1 2 Guest House
3
Pavilion
4
Conference Center
5 Bath House
6 A’ Meeting House
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Gather At The Center • Core Area Design 12
In The Field Graphics, Sketches & Photographs
View of Conference Center Looking East - Section A - A’ (see page 12) Vehicles can see Conference Center under the tree canopy.
Guest House
Conference Center
Pavilion
A N.T.S. Evergreen trees protect buildings from winter wind and obstruct view of Guest House parking from driveway.
A’ Driveway to Guest House parking
Accessible parking with sidewalks
Open lawn for Passive solar Guest House is equipped with photovoltaic and event overflow with view to east. solar hot water panels.
Pavilion is centrally located between the Guest House and Conference Center and frames the view to the east.
Open lawn for events.
Sidewalk and landing are reinforced for catering vehicles to pull up to north entrance.
Conference Center has new main entrance on north wing that can be seen from driveway.
Accessible parking is close to Conference Center.
Above: This section graphic from Gather At The Center demonstrates how guests arriving at the retreat center can see the main entry from the arrival intersection.
Hand-drawn pencil sketch of Beech sapling leaves (Fagus grandifolia) enhanced in Photoshop. A 3-D rendering of the existing conditions for the Simple Gifts Homesteads project (see page 1) created in Google SketchUp, reveals sun and shade patterns found at 9am on the Summer and Winter Solstices, and the Autumal Equinox.
13 In The Field • Graphics, Sketches & Photographs
Top left row: At Natural Enhancements, I was able to gain experience installing and maintaining home landscapes. Projects included weekly maintenance and installation for a 4-acre estate, an urban streetscape for Broadway, VA, and assiting in design for several home landscapes.
Left: This trail map was created by taking GPS points along all trails at Woolman Hill and then importing them onto a basemap created in ArcGIS. Photos to right and below: At New Community Project, I designed and implemented gardens and greenhouses that were low cost and abundant. Bottom right: My personal home became a test to see how much food could be grown in an urban backyard.
In The Field • Graphics, Sketches & Photographs 14
Additional Graphics Illustration: Final design for residential landscape, Fall 2013 Top Photo: The site before installation, with overgrown shrubs. Bottom Photo: After removing 20 shrubs, ammending the soil with compost and organic soil ammendments, and regrading, the site is ready for new plantings in Fall 2013.
Illustration: A phased design allows for foundation plantings that will provide privacy and structure for a young family. Phase two will add additional plantings to allow for colorful flowers from mostly native or culturally southern plants with significant lawn space for active children.
15 In The Field • Additional Graphics
es Earth, Sea & Salv
Above: A hypothetical foundation and footing plan using AutoCAD, Fall 2013. Left: Logo design for a small business. Hand drawn and enhanced using Photoshop and Illustrator.
In The Field • Additional Graphics 16