Gardens & Pastures
SILVOPASTURE
Silvo- (latin root word for Forest) and pasture, which implies grazing.
Early morning sunshine falls upon rows of fruit and nut trees. Apple, Plum, Cherry, Chestnut, Hazelnut trees, and berry bushes provide food for families; animals cleanup excess as they graze between this pastured forest and fertilize and feed back into the whole system. In Silvopasture, trees, animals, and animal forages are integrated into a system where the whole system is greater than the parts divided.
GARDENS
Hügelkultur, literally mound bed or mound culture, is a horticultural technique where a mound constructed from decaying wood debris and other compostable biomass plant materials is later(orimmediately) planted as a raised bed. Techniques helps to improve soil fertility, waterretention, and soil warming,thus benefitting plants grown on or near such mounds.
Perennial pollinator delights: Purple Coneflowers, Hyssop, Milkweed, Yarrow, and Columbine cheerfully welcome visitors and invite ecological health and balance. Providing diversity in plantings invites beneficial animals and insects, controlling pests and disease.
PASTURE GRAZING SYSTEMS
Cattle quietly graze on pasture. These gentle giants are the master pruning team. With managed grazing practices, cattle stimulate root growth, creating lush and healthy plants, increased waterretention, and greater soil health. Healthy soil equals healthy plants equals healthy animals equals healthy mankind.
A flock of hens, following behind the cattle, are valued members of the sanitation crew. They spread cow manure and control and clean up the insect population. Pasture work for them means delicious golden yolked eggs for us.
CHICKENS ON PASTURE
Sunshine, fresh air, and a diet of forage and insects keep these feathered friends in the height of health. Happy, healthy chickens equal nutrient dense food forfamilies. These chickens on pasture are a playing a partin creating land health and sustainability, fertilizing and feeding the soil micro-organisms.
Chicken Tractors are portable housing structures that protect the chickens from predators, as well as from the elements. These lightweight, inexpensive structures allow chickens to live in sanitary, health promoting conditions. Pastured chickens are moved once or twice daily to a new fresh salad bar and new bedding. With these practices, chickens are happy foraging for bugs and scratching in the dirt, just the way God intended them to be.
