Holistic pasture management/farming.....

[Beekissed]

I love his name! That's one of my all time favorite names in the world. Don't know why. Got a deer mount in the cabin named Joe and just sold a ram named Joe.

I love it when they go out in a fresh stand of new grass and just roll. Such joy in that action. Sort of like dogs in fresh snow. When I think of all the house dogs that never get to enjoy snow to its fullest, makes me kind of sad.

 

[Baymule]

His registered name is Joe's Tuff Bars, he's a big guy with white hair and blue eyes. My husband's middle name is Joe, he's a big guy with white hair and blue eyes. LOL

 

[Beekissed]

Got a few pics of one area where I rolled out mulch round bales. With all the rain and warm weather we've had this winter that hay really mulched down and then started sprouting new grass where normally only moss grows.

These pics show where the hay ends and the brown winter dormant moss begins....it's amazing to see that grass there, as moss has been there since we bought the land in the late 70s. No fertilizer, no lime....just hay.

Now, if anyone knows anything about moss, it's hard to kill unless you change the pH of the soil and it really needs to be changed year after year or the soil just seems to go back to an acid level and the moss grows again. I've tried applications of pelleted lime, powdered lime, fertilizer, clover seed, you name it....never got results like this yet.

I'll be watching this transition to see if, with intensive grazing, the soil will truly change after this season of hay and then grazing over it, or will it go back to moss by next winter.

In these pics you can see where the moss ends and the hay begins...

And pics of the baby fine grass growing in the hay where grass of that kind has never grown before....

 

[Baymule]

That is looking great Bee!

 

[thistlebloom]

Your land is lovely Bee. Glad the hay bales are working out so well for you!

 

[Baymule]

Haha Bee I got eye candy for you! It’s not many people who could appreciate this lovely view, but I know you would! LOL LOL

It’s been drizzling, a dreary day. I went walking and took some pictures of dead ground in, stomped on hay, covered with horse manure. Feast your eyes! LOL

Here’s another!! Be still oh my heart!!

Just when you think it couldn’t get any better, it does! Yup! I got yet another sh!tty picture for you! Oh swoon with all the excitement!!!

 

[Beekissed]

Bay, that's some concentrated fertilizer!!!! I can't WAIT to see what comes up there in the spring. And, yes, I have quite the poop envy going on and keep wishing all my sheep's poo was out on the land where it belongs, put there by the manufacturers.

Horse poop scattered like that is pretty much like sheep poop....mild and ready for use. It would be interesting to take a look under that hay and poop here in a month to see what bug and worm life you have going on under there.

Was copicing autumn olive and multiflora rose in B paddock area today in hopes to see some new growth from the stumps of these overgrown shrubs by the time the sheep get there in the spring. Several more to copice in there, but they are so large I'll have to fire up the chainsaw to get them down.

I was tickled to find so many of these on the land....I had thought the majority of them were across our property line but we have a goodly amount on our side. Was thanking God for them, where we used to think of them as a huge nuisance that needed eradicated.

Wish I had a chipper on hand already, as I'd put these branches in the chipper and put all that back on the land. We'll be buying one this spring to help us clean up tree tops left by the timbering and will save some to place in paths and such, but a lot of it will go back onto the land.

 

[Beekissed]

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.

 

[thistlebloom]

It's great to see progress! You have such a nice variety of tree species there. We have pines, and... pines. Well, some Grand fir and doug fir mixed in, but essentially all conifers.
Fencing is very expensive. Several neighbors have fenced their acreage in and helped each other with tractors and equipment. I know they'd help us also, but first thing would be clearing trees, and that is pretty monumental in time and labor.
It will be nice to see how your plan for your land unfolds.

 

[Beekissed]

It's great to see progress! You have such a nice variety of tree species there. We have pines, and... pines. Well, some Grand fir and doug fir mixed in, but essentially all conifers.
Fencing is very expensive. Several neighbors have fenced their acreage in and helped each other with tractors and equipment. I know they'd help us also, but first thing would be clearing trees, and that is pretty monumental in time and labor.
It will be nice to see how your plan for your land unfolds.

We have TOO much pine...and not the pretty stuff, but ugly and tall, that uproot easily and shove huge root balls into the air, block roads and paths, and~from what they are saying~are basically worthless on the market right now. There are portions of this land that looks like a huge game of pick up sticks from all the pines that have went down in storms. They damage better hardwoods when they go down, so we are delighted to have them plucked out of the woodlots for good.

Now, because I do love diversity on the land, I'll likely be adding some species of pine right back on to the land in years to come....just not the type we have now and not where they are currently growing. Since I'll be grazing all year round, a little group of evergreens, interspersed with autumn olive shrubs, situated in places to block the wind, provide shelter from the snow and rain, etc. will not go amiss here~some MIG farmers are using scrub cedars as living barns for their cattle and sheep. If planted where I want, they can provide wind blocking, privacy from the neighboring properties and shelter for wildlife.

I'll also be transplanting some smaller saplings from one area on the land to other areas so as to place shade in spots throughout each paddock so the sheep don't have far to walk to hit a shady spot. This will also allow me to sort of design how our place looks, especially in the fall. I love the way that beech and maple look with a backdrop of evergreens in the fall, so I'll be able to place these trees in such a way as to, not only be functional for shelter and shade, but also for aesthetically pleasing vistas. I'd like to frame the house in color but without obstructing our views too much.