The cows and cornfields of F&C Brooks & Sons Farm, located on Tongore Road in Marbletown, are gone, but the rural character of the site will be maintained and the land will be rejuvenated by the new property owners.

Earth Designs Cooperative, a local land restoration company, relocated from its usual headquarters on Main Street in Rosendale to this Marbletown farmland. Their game plan, for the foreseeable future, is to expand their business and bring restorative land practices to the long-farmed land.

“The common goal for everyone involved in this project is to heal as much land as we can as fast as possible,” said Earth Designs Operations Manager Tommy Guerrero.

After the tree clearing and excavation for a development is complete, folks call Earth Designs to help rehabilitate their own land. Earth Designs will walk clients through every step, from the design of the landscape to its installation and maintenance. The company also conducts custom stone work, builds nature trails, and helps folks manage invasive species.

Due to the recent real estate boom in Ulster County, Earth Designs has been busier than ever and needed more space to expand. Earth Designs General Manager Colin McDonough said that the company had been looking for larger land since 2018. Brooks Farm had everything the company needed, down to the farming infrastructure needed to expand its operations.

In 2008, Frank Brooks (the previous landowner) bought his roughly 45-acre land on Tongore Road, where he processed milk, produced roughly 1,500 bales of hay each day, and rented an additional 1,000 acres to grow heaps of corn. He used to rent out some of his land to part-time residents from New York City, to share the cost of property taxes and uphold the rural character of the area. But the dairy industry wasn’t bringing in enough profits and Brooks put the farm on the market towards the end of 2021.

McDonough said that the restorative plan that Earth Design had for the property let Brooks know that the property was in good hands. Earth Designs officially bought the property in December 2021 and was fully moved into Marbletown by early January.

The first thing folks might notice while driving by the farm is a small, fenced-in garden sitting to the left of the driveway. Here, Guerrero plans to grow tomatoes, kale, radishes, potatoes, and whatever other vegetable seeds his employees decide to plant. The Earth Designs crew will be able to grab fresh produce to bring home or to cook together as a team at the farm once they’re ready. Guerrero said that any extra produce would be donated to the community. In the future, McDonough said that the company may invite other communities to grow and manage their own gardens at the farm.

To the right of the large hay barn and former cow stables the company is beginning to grow an array of perennial flowers and shrubs that they will use on their clients’ property. Over the next two years, McDonough hopes that 100 percent of all plantings used in projects will be grown on the farm. The barn and stables will serve as extra storage space.

The old cornfields and cow pastures have been taken over by two new grow fields, both of which are completely organic. McDonough explained that one field will grow organic wheat while the other will produce more vegetables. With the addition of the new field, McDonough hopes to make the land a certified organic farm through the Northeast Organic Farming Association, which has much stricter qualifying standards than the Food & Drug Administration, McDonough explained.

New meadows full of wildflowers and lush grass will also sprout up around the property as the company experiments with its various blends of meadow seeds. The plots will be used as testing grounds to see what seed mixtures and maintenance practices will yield the most vibrant fields.

Earth Designs also has a cooperative business model they view as a way of fighting the downsides of capitalism. The company is owned by a collection of partners, who each have their own say in business decisions based on their involvement with the company. The end-of-the-year profits from the business, after needed expenses are paid for, are also distributed to employees in the forms of raises, bonuses and vacation time. Each of the employees, Guerrero explained, have an equal opportunity to become partners in the future if they desire.

“The most fundamental difference [with cooperatives] is that the profits of your labor are not being sequestered at the top,” Guerrero said. “There is a very concerted effort to make sure that the fruit of everyone’s labor is equitably distributed.”

The idea behind the cooperative is to share everything from profits to education. In fact, McDonough said that the company is hoping to host workshops to help residents implement its restorative land practices in their homes. The Earth Designs crew is excited to share their sense of community and love for the environment with the Marbletown community.