Before the Adirondack course, I
always assumed that farming was the most successful in warmer, drier, flatter
climates. Boy was I wrong. Finding the truth about Adirondack farming started
when I asked myself: Why, according to the 2002 map of farmland in the
Adirondacks from the Adirondack Atlas,
do the most successful and extant farms exist in the Northeastern most region
of the park? The answer – farming in the Adirondacks is not only dependent on
latitude but also a host of other factors including soil quality, bedrock
composition, distance to water and topography to determine the best and most
successful farming sites.
Latitude
does not impact farming in the Adirondack region as intensely as would be
normally anticipated. According to a map of average United States temperatures
in Atlas, the temperature throughout
the Adirondacks is relatively even. Indeed, the temperatures within the park
itself tend to drop about 5 degrees in contrast with the surrounding region.
Therefore, the best farming regions in the Adirondacks exist around the park,
including to the North.
In
comparison, topography, soil quality, bedrock composition and distance to water
play a much stronger role in determining the success of farming in the
Adirondacks. While the main portion of the Adirondack Park is extremely
mountainous with many changes in elevation, the surrounding areas are flatter
and better for farming. The soil quality is much higher due to less weathering of
the exposed bedrock, fewer glaciation deposits from past receding glaciers, and
lake sediment outwash from nearby Lake Champlain. The bedrock composition,
while the same Granite/Gneiss as the majority of the park, is hidden under
layers of soil and sediment, preventing leeching from bedrock erosion.
The Northeastern region of the Adirondacks in particular is extremely close to
Lake Champlain, which not only contributes to soil quality but also creates a
general source of water for farming.
The similar
temperature/climate surrounding all sides of the Adirondack park allow for more
specialized factors – topography, soil quality, etc. – to have an impact on
farming. It may sound backwards but because of the positive impact the specialized features have on
farming and because the majority of those features exist in the Northeastern
region of the Adirondack Park, Lake Champlain Valley can thrive on its farming
potential, overcoming higher (colder) latitude.
Source: The Adirondack Atlas: A Geographic Portrait of the Adirondack Park by Jerry Jenkins
There is no doubt that within the Adirondacks the soil quality and topography have a huge impact on determining farm-able land, but there are certain aspects of climate which make the Champlain region as good as it is. The Atlas showed that the areas surrounding the park (particularly the east and west sides) have longer growing seasons. Maybe the longer growing season doesn't matter as much if the soil is poor quality but the soil of these regions are actually better. The soil is formed from carbonate rich rocks which readily release nutrients the plants need versus the nutrient poor granite soils of the Adirondacks. The east and west regions also lie near large bodies of water which have a moderating effect on the climate. The soil and topography are definitely important, but even the perfect soil won't grow crops if it's frozen 11 months of the year.
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