WELLSVILLE If there is a place in Wellsville where science and nature hold hands and move brightly toward the future, it is at Sunset Farms on South Hill. The bioshelter/henhouse/experiment is, just for now, an unproven construction of rock, compost and calculations but over the next few months it will become a producing farm. The farm – one that will produce vegetables year round - is being created by Andrew Harris.
You might know Andrew Harris as the owner of Better Days Pub and Eatery. He owned and managed the business from the kitchen with a menu featuring as much local food as possible.
After selling the business, Harris looked for a new career, one that would teach him more, help him spread knowledge, include the gentle use of his land and promote both local foods and a plant based diet.
That led him to Sunset Farm, his own venture into growing food year round on a solar powered farm with help from RenewableRochester.com.
Approaching the farm, the first view is of a clean, modern, deceptively simple building. Nothing about the building (called the Mothership after a Led Zeppelin album) is simple. The majority of space is given to 7 parallel raised beds.
Under the beds are trenches that form a subterranean heating and cooling system 4 feet below the building. The trenches are insulated and hold a system of perforated plastic pipes. The pipes are sized for optimal air flow and heavy enough to support hundreds of pounds of crushed rock and soil.
In the summer, cool air from the ground will flow into the growing area to lower the temperature and in the winter fans will move warm air from the peak into the system to warm the rocks and the soil and keep food growing year round.
The plants sprout from a mix of peat moss,perlite/vermiculite and clean food-quality compost using the increasingly popular “square foot method” in which beds are fertilized with compost between growth cycles.
Every surface inside the building is light-reflecting white. Light pours in through the glazing on the southern roof. The 16mm Lexan polycarbonate sheeting is designed and engineered to diffuse and filter light. Blue and ultraviolet rays pass through and promote plant growth but reds are reflected.
The material, with a 10 year warranty, has a R value of 7 and is hail proof. The roof is pitched to both capture sunlight and shed snow. The other sides are insulated, solid walls.
Separated from the raised beds but within the structure is the hen and goat housing leading to a ¼ acre pasture with plans for a 1 acre pond. Nesting boxes will invite 40 chickens to lay during the day and roost at night. The number isn’t random. 1 hen will produce manure for 10 square feet and these beds measure 400 square feet.
Next to the nests is a paddock for 2 troublesome goats. The goats present a challenge since they will trample anything, eat everything and jump over what others might see as barriers.
There is an electric ribbon fence around the chicken/goat pasture but goats aren’t bothered by anything less than 8-12 joules of electricity. Unfortunately that’s enough to kill a chicken so the bottom ribbons need to be higher than a chicken’s inquisitive beak and the solar panels will have to hum along to produce enough power for the fence and fans.
A door at the end of the henhouse serves as a compost passage for the transference of manure to an interior composting bed. Compost isn’t as simple as pile it up and let it rot. Strict rules govern time and temperature for the composting process. After the process starts inside the building it must move outside to a windrow. The strict process will provide a natural control of bacteria.
Everything is designed to work within natural cycles. Nitrogen will cycle from chicken and goat manure to be broken down by bacteria into compost which will fertilize the growing beds and then emerge in plants to, in part, nourish the animals and the farmers.
Natural insect control will be the job of pecking chickens and occasional introduction of predator insects.
There’s a cycle of energy as heat and cold will flow in this controlled loop to keep the temperature of the soil above 65 degrees. There’s a cycle of carbon dioxide. Given off by the animals at night, it will be pumped through a filter into the growing area to give the plants a higher density of carbon dioxide, optimizing photosynthesis.
There is a test garden already producing seed and the growing area has space for a vertical garden later when the first production levels are established.
There has already been an offer from a local restaurant to purchase the chemical free, healthy produce but Harris also hopes to work with subscribers wanting to take home lettuce, herbs, eggs and vegetables every week. He hopes to also encourage others to join in local, year-round food production.
Your chance to see Sunset Farms is at 2 pm on October 5. Signs will help lead you to the farm on South Hill Road. The open house will offer tours at 3 and 5 pm and a lettuce/spinach taste testing. Senator Cathy Young will visit the facility at 3 pm. Join Sunset Farms on Facebook for emerging details.
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JR.
Green Trucking Company
That spot on South Main was a different place in 1870 when Isaac Fassett built his grand hotel there on
a plot of land that had already seen 4 decades of commerce and was the site of some
of Wellsville’s early town meetings. The Fassett house was meant to last,
architecturally demanding to endure, proclaiming those demands with brick
exterior walls encasing thick interior firewalls. Isaac Fassett didn’t intend
to allow a repeat of the 1867 fire that devastated Wellsville’s Main Street. Having
survived for over 130 years, the building was brought down in 2005 by leaky
water pipes and, despite the 1870 efforts, a fire 
In the first centuries of the
Village of Wellsville, community spaces were located inside of structures. In
our time with this project, the community will be invited to an open space with
crops, a living maze, and people sitting, talking and feeling at home.
Cassandra Bull is president of
AFRA and with Andrew Harris and Andy Glanzman makes up the energizing core of
AFRA. Harris had the original idea for the community food garden, a shared
growing space for crops and acted as water carrier for flowers, rhubarb, garlic
and more catching the attention of AFRA. AFRA has changed the focus and now all
board members are focused on creating a “greenspace” with a garden and with
installations such as a meditation labyrinth, a mini theater area, and annual
gardens to create a space that would be open to and welcoming of social gatherings
and educational programming.
More donations are needed for
construction (slated to begin in April), operation and the unpredictable,
surprise expenses that are part of any large project. Donations of any size can
be made online at www.youcaring.com/thefassettgreenspace
where more information is posted. Another source of information is on Facebook
at The Fassett Greenspace. If you prefer paper over the internet, checks may be
made out out to Art for Rural America ( or just AFRA Greenspace) and mailed to
130 North Main Street, Wellsville, NY 14895. 
WELLSVILLE If there is a place in Wellsville where science and nature hold hands and move brightly toward the future, it is at Sunset Farms on South Hill. The bioshelter/henhouse/experiment is, just for now, an unproven construction of rock, compost and calculations but over the next few months it will become a producing farm. The farm – one that will produce vegetables year round - is being created by Andrew Harris. 
The material, with a 10 year warranty, has a R value of 7 and is hail proof. The roof is pitched to both capture sunlight and shed snow. The other sides are insulated, solid walls.
A door at the end of the henhouse serves as a compost passage for the transference of manure to an interior composting bed. Compost isn’t as simple as pile it up and let it rot. Strict rules govern time and temperature for the composting process. After the process starts inside the building it must move outside to a windrow. The strict process will provide a natural control of bacteria.
