Making A Pasture

[thistlebloom]

I have never lived anywhere where we got 5" of rain in a single storm. That would be pretty amazing to experience. If we get a whole inch from a storm we think we're drowning!

 

[Duckfarmerpa1]

We constantly fight erosion here. The sand is loose and water moves it right along. It’s an ongoing project.

You are very lucky you had no damage!! It looks great!

 

[Baymule]

I have never lived anywhere where we got 5" of rain in a single storm. That would be pretty amazing to experience. If we get a whole inch from a storm we think we're drowning!

That’s funny! 5” is not unusual.

 

[Xerocles]

That’s funny! 5” is not unusual.

And when @Baymule gets through with the rain, she sends it east, to us. We got 4 3/4" this time.

 

[Bruce]

I guess she didn't use most of hers since she had so much to share!

 

[Beekissed]

We've been raining cats and dogs here for days, particularly yesterday and last night...full on torrential rain all night long. Had a pine down in the yard this morning but it missed all things vital...laid it neatly between the garden and shed.

@Baymule , I'm loving the pics of the decreased runoff! Just think of the soil structure you are building there and how quickly you could go from sandy to loamy if you don't do any tillage to seed and such.

Turning Sand into Soil - Cornell Small Farms

This article was one of four winning entries in a writing contest sponsored by the New York State Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI). GLCI is led

smallfarms.cornell.edu

 

[Baymule]

We are working on it @Beekissed. We have been improving the soil since we got here. The difference is the animals, without them we would still be looking at pure sand. It is taking time, but it all seems to be coming together.

 

[Beekissed]

With MIG it's more accelerated but even with that most folks are saying 3 yrs is when they really start seeing the pay off. I'm sure hoping that's right, as I'm old and my time is short here.

I've got thin, ridge top soil with hard pan clay under about 2 in. of topsoil....if we plow we've lost our topsoil. Even if we cultivate unimproved soil, we lose our topsoil. I'm hoping with the MIG and also using the hay in the garden, I'll build some topsoil that lasts instead of just getting sucked into the clay, never to be seen again. When I read about ranchers and farmers disking up whole fields to plant different kinds of grasses or cover crops, I always cringe.

 

[Baymule]

Yesterday we did erosion control on the pipeline and raked up 5 more swales in the (someday) horse pasture. The forestry mulcher left so much wood chunks, chips and saplings on the ground that we have to clean them up to expose the soil for grass seed. So we make swales with them. It works. Today we pitch forked 5 mule loads of hay out of the Sheep barn and spread it between the swales.

Then because we were on a roll, we cleaned out the sheep barn, 5 mule loads, and put it on the garden.

We. Are. Tired.

 

[Beekissed]

Wow, BAY!!!! That's a ton of mulch on the ground! Can't imagine any erosion going on there. Looks like you had a pretty day for work like we did here, though I was in town for most of the day and missed the opportunity to do much work.