Rural Heritage October/November 2025

A FEW MINUTES WITH...KODY HARRIS

A Two-Acre Demo Field

by Rob Collins T he Cook’s Mill farm site for Tillers International is around 200 acres- a mixture of fields, pastures, woods, an artisan village, the guest house, millpond and millhouse, and the museum. In the last couple of years, the central 2-acre field has functioned somewhat as a hub to connect all the parts of the farm. For this column, I spoke with Kody Harris, who is managing this demonstration plot both at the center of Tillers’ property- and its mission. Rob Collins: What is the focus of the demonstration field?

Kody Harris: It’s an interactive classroom of sorts, except outdoors, for students, interns, and volunteers to learn fundamental agricultural skills, specifically in a draft animal-powered environment- learning to work with animals, but also learning to work with the system itself. It's much more than just learning about planting or draft animals, but learning how they all work together. RC: For folks who haven't seen it, what do you grow in this field? KH: Some of what we grow is dictated on the tools available to us. I really like to use the prototypes for international tools and that puts limits on the types

Cultivating popcorn.

Rural Heritage

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