Learning from forests at Windhorse Farm

Last week, Jim Drescher, the man responsible for Windhorse Farm, came cross-country to the Mersey Tobeatic Research Institute, in Kempt, to talk about forestry and Windhorse Farm. The first thing he did was rearrange the chairs so that he was part of a circle, rather than be at the front of an audience.

Then, in a soft voice, he began talking about the forests of southwestern Nova Scotia, and the work going on at Windhorse Farm. He asked questions of the people in the circle and challenged their assumptions, making what was to have been a talk into a session of mutual exploration and understanding.

Windhorse Farm was started by Jim Drescher in 1990, when he and his wife, Margaret, had the opportunity to buy the farm and woodlots of Carol Wentzell, whose family had been among the first settlers of the area, there since 1840. They had managed their woodlands carefully so that their forests stayed healthy. Since the Wentzells had no children, they passed their lands on to the Dreschers.

Since then, Windhorse Farm has become many things. We were there with others this summer, buying beautiful birch flooring and having a tour of the farm. Because Drescher believes that woodlot owners need to add value to the trees they cut off their land, he and his co-workers have set up woodshops with up to date equipment, producing a variety of wood products.

There was a wide selection of tongue and groove flooring, milled from birch, pine, oak, beech, aspen, maple, hemlock, spruce, hackmatack, and walnut. We also saw fine countertops, put together so that either their edge or end grains showed, creating a stunning effect. We saw table tops, banisters and wood panels, made from pieces of wood selected with care and handled with respect. Wood for these products is certified as having come from sustainable forests, the bulk from Windhorse itself and from local farms practicing sustainable forestry.

Windhorse Farm is far more than this, however. What the Dreschers wanted to do was set up a self-sufficient rural community, which would leave a small footprint in terms of what it took from the land and what it consumed in terms of energy. The farm engages in careful forestry practices, horse logging, milling, organic gardening and runs a nursery and seed business.

It is also a place for learning. People and families are invited to come to the farm to work and live, both for short and long term stays. The farm has retreat cabins on the lake. There is a farmhouse, which produces meals three times a day. There is a lodge where visitors stay, also used for meditation. There are places for tenting. Courses are taught at the farm, and custom-designed educational experiences are available.

What interested those gathered at the MTRI the most, however, was the vision Windhorse Farm has for forestry in Nova Scotia. The Dreschers believe that forests can be managed so that they can constantly produce high quality wood, as well as provide habitat for birds, plants and animals. They want to see our forests transformed from industrial pulp farms to woods that are diverse, capable of supporting communities and are at the same time economically viable.

He told the group that Windhorse follows simple forestry practices, some of which were learned from the Wentzell family itself. Drescher, who is a trained forester and who still manages the family woodlots in Wisconsin, says that trees for harvest should be selected on the basis of choosing the one in a crowd that is the slowest growing. Windhorse never cuts the tallest trees, because the height of the forest canopy is important. The number of trees cut in an area is important, too, as it is crucial to keep the natural forest canopy intact.

It is important not to cut dead trees or those that have fallen naturally, as dead trees, he said, are the life of the forest. Equally, only the best parts of the cut tree should be used, leaving the rest to decompose. The use of roads and heavy equipment, which compacts the soil, is minimized.

The final forest practice is that people who own woodlots should spend time in them just walking, thinking or practicing stillness, Jim Drescher believes. They should study, reflect, observe, and spend time doing as close to nothing as possible. That way, the forest can teach people what ought to be done.

- Tom Sheppard can be reached at twsheppard@gmail.com