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50 Sheep Added to Our Hayfield Restoration Program
For a few years now, Cally and I have been tossing around the idea of bringing sheep here to the farm to compliment the work that the poultry is doing in our pasture (soil) rehabilitation program. The advantages were clear: But, because we’re incredibly careful people—and despite thoughtful encouragement from elders we trust—we hadn’t braved the plunge…
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How We Raised Pastured Pork in 2014
Last year, as one of our early pastured meat experiments, we raised four Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs from Hidden Nest Farm in Argyle, New York. As we strive to provide any animal we bring onto this farm with a full, safe, and interesting life, we circled a 1.5 acre hillside—complete with an old horse stall, trees,…
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Hayfield Restoration With Chickens: The Exciting Results Can Be Seen From Space!
It is March 18th here in Vermont, and while all the bitter dispositions of Vermonters are slowly warming, the temperature outside is decidedly not. It is an 18° Windsday today—the wind is cutting straight through wool, beards, and bone. It turned out to be fortunate, however, that the weather is so bitter, because had it been pleasant—and had I…
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Hayfield Restoration with Chickens: Year One
I don’t have much more to add to my previous post on this subject. The real “proof-in-the-pudding” will arrive in the spring with the new grass. If the lush green stripes return, viola! We’ve done something real—though, in a small way. If not, we’ll go back to the drawing board.
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Hayfield Restoration with Chickens: Idea & Testing
We started raising chickens on grass this year for a reason that I don’t hear or read often. We didn’t do it for the chicken. We didn’t do it for the money. We did it for the grass. Those of you who are familiar with our farm know that while this farm has transitioned through…
