It's been a while since we wrote any blogs, so it seems appropriate to refresh our explanation of what the heck we're doing here! Simply put, we are performing small-scale regenerative agriculture, which means that we are attempting to "regenerate" and improve the land, soils, bio-diversity, and habitat using organic and ecological practices. This is a big, long-term challenge that is important to us and many others that support our endeavors here. We're not into this for the money, (hehe, good thing!) we are into this for the love of being close to the land, and being closely connected to our actions and the consequences of our actions. This 11 acre parcel of land we purchased was quite depleted preceding our arrival, much like a lot of farm land these days. Conventional practice is to cut and remove all the yeild the land produces, then import chemical fertilizers repeatedly to gain yeild after yeild. We want to replenish the soils and get this land to a point where it is much more sustainable and fewer inputs are required. We've started with Animals, they play very important roles in ecology and the cycling of nutrients. Land left alone to rest without positive animal impact is slow to mature or recover. We are and will be developing land management plans using animals in a rotational system to regenerate our soil health.
Last year, our first season at Steep Mountain Farm, we had four beef steers, four Nigerian dairy goats, 30 turkeys, and about 65 laying hens, and a handful of gentle-roosters. We also took on an additional 19 calf/cows for three months to add what we thought was the appropriate stocking rate for the amount of dry matter we had in our pastures. The impacts the animals had were immediate and obvious, especially with the poultry. A while after the animals were moved and the pasture given a chance to rest, things were much greener and grew faster!
We installed a "kitchen garden" using a sheet-mulch and cover crop approach after having the chickens on the area first. We'll expand our gardens and orchards as time and finances allow. We are not super keen on the idea of being slaves to annual vegetable production, so we will likely focus on a wealth of diversity of perennial plants, with annuals allowed to grow intermittently.
We also completed our 'Sharn' construction using a used 40' shipping container, reclaimed barn lumber, straw-bales, and a handful of new materials. The Sharn is part goat and hay barn, part shed, where things like the tractor and other implements live, as well as an assortment of other tools, parts and materials.
Several other goals were accomplished last season, one more worth mentioning is the grant we recieved for a high tunnel! In 2017 as soon as the ground thaws, we will erect the 96' by 30' tunnel and begin preping the soil for cultivation.
For the time being (the depth of winter), we are just chugging along, trying to keep animals warm and alive, making plans for the coming season, and getting out in the mountains when we can for some ski adventures.
Stay tuned for more winter blog writting! (maybe)
