We develop scalable, climate-resilient platforms that transform landscape-scale ecological healing into stable, non-correlated investor returns.
Partner With UsCastanea Creek is building the first vertically integrated, ecologically sophisticated agroforestry platform in the United States. We are built at the intersection of ecological restoration and premium food production.
The starting point for this platform is Opal Grove in Columbia County, New York — a 135-acre flagship hub serving as the proof of concept for a model that will operate across multiple geographies.
From land selection and ecological system design through harvest, processing, and branded product sales. With no reliance on third-party commodity buyers, margin is captured across the full value chain.
Rather than replicating one system across geographies, each hub is designed around its specific ecology, land economics, and market context.
This approach draws on peer-reviewed agroforestry science, Traditional Ecological Knowledge of forest management systems that sustained communities for millennia, and the practical experience of our founders and leading practitioners. The systems we design become more productive and more valuable as they mature.
Castanea Creek’s founding principle reflects a core conviction: that ecological health and financial performance are not in tension — they reinforce each other.
Our system design works with this process rather than fighting it, establishing designed plant communities where pioneer nitrogen-fixing trees, shrubs, herbaceous perennials and annual crops support the development of target commercial species.
Ernst Götsch’s Syntropic Agriculture methodology offers a contemporary, systematized framework that we are now integrating into our design process.
Carefully managed rotational grazing of sheep and poultry within the tree rows naturally accelerates nutrient cycling, provides organic pest control, and creates stacked, near-term revenue streams while the primary canopy matures.
As commercial crops mature, external input requirements decline and the system becomes increasingly self-sustaining.
Each site is designed to increase in productivity and resilience over time, not plateau or decline.
Rather than relying on volatile wholesale commodity markets, we develop high-margin, shelf-stable consumer products and strategic partnerships to capture full value across the supply chain.
Ecological monitoring and data collection create proprietary site intelligence over time — an appreciating knowledge asset that compounds with each growing season.
The pioneers build soil, fix nitrogen, establish mycorrhizal networks, and moderate microclimate.
Higher diverse, layered systems buffer temperature extremes, drought, and flooding.
Natural ecosystems progress through stages of succession — from pioneer species through secondary growth to mature forest — becoming more complex, resilient, and productive at each stage.
Castanea Creek brings together deep expertise in ecological system design, agricultural technology, strategic marketing, and real asset financial structuring.
Founder | Operations & Farm Development
Shane leads the structural and operational execution of Castanea Creek's agroforestry hubs. With a focus on land acquisition, precision agriculture implementation, and financial modeling, Shane ensures the seamless transition of degraded land into highly productive, successional ecosystems that deliver targeted IRR thresholds.
Founder | Product, Marketing & Strategy
John drives the vertical integration and market positioning for Castanea Creek's consumer brands, including Opal Grove. His expertise in product development, brand narratives, and direct-to-consumer architecture ensures that the ecological harvest is transformed into premium, high-margin goods that bypass commoditized wholesale channels.