We think green here at the Farm.  Living outside for the summer gives us a unique opportunity to look at the earth and our impact on it in a new way.  Longacre staff model “walking gently” on the earth, and doing what we can to support the land and animals we share it with.

Sustainable Living

At Longacre, we produce, reuse and recycle as much as possible.  This reduces our community's ecological footprint and teaches teenagers sustainability.  We do this by:

• Growing dozens of varieties of vegetables, grains, and berries to support our community of ninety people.
• Composting our “greens” and “browns” for future use in the garden.  We compost our kitchen waste, weeds, horse manure, and vegetable matter.  We also use our compost system as a model to teach others how they can do it at home.
• Helping run local community recycling centers as a service initiative.
• Reclaiming water off of our metal rooftops for watering the garden and washing eggs gathered from the barn.
• Splitting firewood harvested from our woodlands.

Green Energy and Design

Not only do we live sustainably, we also build sustainably.  For over a decade, all new buildings on the property have been built by participants using local materials and innovative green design techniques that minimize our use of resources like electricity, wood, fuel and water.  We also started creating our own energy source in our biodiesel lab, where we turn waste fryer oil from local restaurants into usable fuel for our farm machinery!

Teenagers who choose to participate in construction projects or in biodiesel fuel production learn how to make energy-efficient design decisions that work with nature.  Participants can:

• Learn about alternative and traditional building techniques like timber frame, straw bale, and ICF (Integrated Concrete Forms) construction.
• Make biodiesel to run our tractors and farm vehicles.
• Learn about how electricity is generated by our 5,200 watt solar array.
• Use wood from a local Amish sawmill in building large structures.

At Longacre Farm, we are concious of our relationship with the environment.  We build in a way that utilizes local materials, minimizes our use of energy, and helps teenagers understand how humans can work with nature.  We use waste vegetable oil to power farm vehicles and have large photovoltaic solar array.  We teach skills that help teenagers to better understand how to make decisions in sync with their philosophies on nature and the environment.

• Develop carpentry skills through construction and woodwork, using wood from a local Amish sawmill.
• Use woodworking skills to build large and small, from habitat for threatened bird species, to buildings for farm equipment storage.
• Utilize alternative and conventional building techniques, including timber framing and straw bale construction.
• Learn to use hand tools for fine woodworking and power tools under the supervision of trained staffers
• Make biodiesel to run our tractors or convert a vehicle to run on straight vegetable oil.
• Grow heirloom varieties of grains, fruits, and vegetables to preserve the genetic heritage of our food sources.
• Reclaim rainwater from our roofs to water our plants and animals.