Land in the Hudson Valley has oscillated between being commodified as timber forests and farms, used for either monoculture crop production or clearcut logging. This project overlaps the conditions of forest and farm to create a biodiverse, mixed-use landscape. Using mycoforestry on the corn fields on our site, the depleted soil is replenished and the site becomes a rich forest that is both a refuge and a laboratory. Initially, tree species are planted along a grid, so that the forest health can be studied through a series of monitoring stations that also serve as field classrooms for forestry students. As the trees reach maturity and the boundaries between the forest patches begin to blur, the environment becomes a vibrant multispecies host. During this period, the mycelium-enriched soil will produce fields of mushrooms that can be foraged, alongside other foragable crops that exist symbiotically with the forest. A path runs through the site, connecting a processing center, field classrooms, a mycology center, and growing fields. On this test site, the activities of the forest and farm can play out as concurrent, harmonious events that change our perception of what a human-influenced, living landscape can be.
