Ecosystem Features & Conservation Practices
Sunnyside Farm and Conservancy is a diverse ecosystem comprising a range of features all of which bear the signature of past and current human use. Managed with nature in mind, each can sustain distinctive flora and fauna while also producing important goods and services. We employ a wide range of conservation practices to achieve this goal and are constantly evaluating and adapting them to deliver better results. Below we summarize the key features that define this landscape, identify conservation actions associated with each, list species we view as indicators and describe other benefits they generate.
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Orchards
Orchards are central to Sunnyside’s legacy. This was the first apple orchard in Rappahannock County and one of the best known in the state. Orchards extended well up the mountain slopes into what is now regenerating forest. Relics of that history — cisterns, roadbeds, old campsites…
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Production Fields & High Tunnels
For over two decades, Sunnyside has produced organic vegetables for the local foods market. Today, approximately 15 acres, as well as five passively heated high tunnels, are in vegetable production. Contrary to the narrative that agricultural lands…
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Hayfields & Pastures
Sunnyside has approximately 12 acres of pastureland dominated primarily by orchard and fescue grass. Surprisingly, we’ve found that certain declining species in our region — American kestrels and Eastern meadowlarks in particular — can thrive in these…
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Farm Infrastructure
Agriculture has been central to the Sunnyside landscape for centuries, and its footprint — past and current — can be found almost everywhere. Over the years, we have removed massive amounts of barbed wire and all forms of trash and junk.
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Native Meadows & Savannas
Grasslands are one of the world’s most imperiled and least appreciated ecosystems. This is especially the case in the Southeast U.S., where more than 99% of grassland habitat has been lost to agricultural conversion, development and fire suppression.
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Ponds
Sunnyside has a total of nine ponds, all of which are man made. Most were built to provide permanent water for orchard and vegetable irrigation. Currently, only three are used for this purpose. All are fed by seasonal streams and springs as well as rainwater.
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Stream Corridors & Hedgerows
“In between” spaces offer some of the most diverse and important habitat at Sunnyside. The property has five primary drainages that run north-south, starting in Shenandoah National Park and emptying in the Rush River one neighboring property away.
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Forest
Half of Sunnyside is forest. The forested areas of the property adjoin the 311 square miles of almost entirely forested Shenandoah National Park and immediately abut a section of the park designated by Congress as wilderness in 1976. This is a forest, nevertheless, that…
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Manicured Areas
Sunnyside has considerable infrastructure to provide for the people who live here and for the work we carry out. Surrounding and connecting our houses, farm buildings, barns, and greenhouses are closely mown areas, yards, stone walls, roads, trails…