Filed under: August 2016 | Tags: environmental stewardship, firewood, mast, pasture, rotational grazing, Small Farming, wooded pasture, woodland management plan
August 15, 2016
This patch of woodlands was recommended by the state forester to become a pasture. There were not too many trees worth saving according to him. I bought a herd of goats several years ago and let them eat whatever they wanted. I mowed what I could after the goats had moved on. I cut down and am cutting down, cull trees while cleaning up what falls down every year.
This hamlet has become a great pasture for sultry summer days. I feed hay to the cows here to provide feed in addition to whatever the cows graze. I graze it very short so that my clean up efforts are made easier. Soon I will hand seed grasses into the bare spots. As I remove trees the filtered sunlight encourages the grass to grow. What was once a brushy, thorny, overgrown patch, with a few trees growing among the multi-flora rose, has become a productive paddock on my farm.
I am going to remove all the trees with multi-trunks, leaving the best and straightest to grow. I continue to clean up the dead, wind blown, fallen trees and branches. Trust me I have made great progress, but plenty of work awaits. I work here in the fall. The weather is good for hard work. I also like to take trees down after the leaves have fallen. It makes the brush easier to handle.
In following my “Woodland Management Plan”, this area will become a pasture. In following my own desire, the pasture will be wooded, providing shade and comfort during the dog days of summer. I do get a fair amount of grazing days here as I rotate the animals through this field. I also graze the sow herd here to clean up the fallen Hickory nuts and wild apples. It has been a great little field and it is just starting to reach its full potential.
4 Comments so far
Leave a comment
RicelandMeadows 
Your country side is so very very different than here.
Comment by Donkey Driver August 17, 2016 @ 11:00 pmYes, we took the “Empire Builder” out to Montana a few years ago. We saw some pretty country, but I missed my trees :o)
Comment by ricelandmeadows August 18, 2016 @ 10:34 amI bet you did! Just like I miss my open space when I’m ” in the trees.” 😊it’s interesting how much the farming practices have to differ, also.
Comment by Donkey Driver August 19, 2016 @ 10:23 pmYou are so right about different farming practices. I know a lot about farming here, but would have a huge learning curve if I was transplanted somewhere else.
Comment by ricelandmeadows August 25, 2016 @ 2:32 pm