THE AGRITECT

The 2024 NAFDMA Agritourism Farm Tour in Michigan provided valuable insights into various farms, including Gull Meadows, Thistleberry Farms, Bowerman Blueberries, Lewis Adventure Farm & Zoo, and others. Key takeaways included the importance of traffic control, accessibility, diverse product offerings, branding, photo opportunities, and careful planning for infrastructure and layout to ensure functionality and efficiency in agritourism endeavors.

Kennel Design Ideas Unleashed on 42 Now that you’ve learned about authorities, laws, codes and rules, set your building on the site. You can now do the fun stuff: Design the layout!   Make a list of all the spaces you think you might need and how big they should be. Think about all the operations, […]

Unleashed on 42 One of the biggest decisions is where to place your kennel building on the site? There are lots of factors to consider, but here are some of ours when we get started! Noise – this is really important to maintaining neighbourly relations, and likely your personal sanity. Depending on how many dogs […]

How to Start Your Kennel Project – Authorities Review Unleashed on 42 You love dogs, and you know there is a need in your community for dog boarding, but you don’t know where to start. In this blog, I will go over both design principles and the authorities/permits needed to get started. Starting any project […]

What is sustainable tourism? Creating Meaningful Connection In the pursuit of mindful living and conscious consumption, regenerative agritourism emerges as a beacon of sustainable harmony, weaving together the threads of mindful stewardship, ecological balance, and agricultural heritage. In this article, we delve into the essence of regenerative agritourism, exploring its transformative potential and the profound […]

Rural Reviatalization Idea #3: Trail bunkies. Grain bin conversion, treehouse, bunkie…what opportunities does your property have along the @G2GRailTrail or @@TheBruceTrailConservancy ?

An overview to municipal zoning regulations. Is your agritourism project allowed? What they are? How to interpret them? And what to do about them?

Most farmers have encountered the restrictions in farm severances that have been enforced over the past years.  This planning policy requires that farms must be a minimum of 100 acres (40 hectares). And the result is that farmers have been unable to sever surplus houses from farms they purchase. As with most policy it is like […]

I’m sure you’ve heard it before from a farmer, If I retire I’ll die.  Those farmers just don’t know how to take a day off, let alone retire. Not to mention that most farmers don’t want to move to town. So what options are left? move in with you on the home farm?!? If you’re […]

Woven Lea Farm – the ideal sustainable farm proposal – VELD architect 2008 4 years ago my brother made a deal with his environmental professor at Ridgetown Agriculture college.  In exchange for guest lecture in her class about my thesis work, he was allowed to skip class to come to my architecture thesis defense. He […]