Phase one of creating silvopasture has been contracted...found the right timber guy, who not only will remove all the pines and larger hardwoods, but is also going to thin our woodlots of trash wood that is good for the chip market. We had planned on thinning those trees out over the years, a little at a time, to open up the forest floor and canopy above, but this will put us way ahead on that plan while also utilizing those trees for extra start up income for the MIG.
Looking at two solid weeks of rain and lots of it, so they likely won't start until we get a break in the weather....if we do...but I'm so very excited to see how this develops the woodlots and the silvopasture capabilities therein. We are going to go through each lot with him and he's going to help us identify the trees and we'll measure the spacing~hoping to get 15-20 ft spacing on all trees if possible, so we can keep plenty of oak, beech, maple, hickory and walnut, if any. I'd also like to keep smaller cherry trees, which most discount in silvopasture as being not food worthy, but my chickens LOVE the cherries and so do all the other birds.
Also got a quote on getting fencing put in....just in materials alone this guy quoted $6300, which is WAY too rich for our blood, so we will be doing it ourselves. Just how you eat an elephant...one bite at a time. Going to sink corner posts and set gates in the nearest paddock then order the Timeless Tposts and start running wire until we get at least one paddock set up so we can get the sheep out on clean soils for lambing.
And, so it begins....and I'm so excited I could dance, but I won't because even in private it's an embarrassing thing to watch. Sort of like a manatee having a full body spasm. Not pretty.
