Spring Has Sprung!

The snow has FINALLY melted and the grass is starting to green up!  I am hopeful that we have seen the last of the snow.  This is my favorite time of year.  There is a flurry of activity (not flurries of snow) and the whole farm comes to life.  New babies are born almost every day and we don't have to put on multiple layers of socks just to walk out the door. 

As I type, Bryce is out cultipacking the 70 acres north of our house.  If you don't know what a cultipacker is, you are not alone!  I needed a lesson myself.  According to Wikipedia, "A cultipacker is a piece of agricultural equipment that crushes dirt clods, removes air pockets, and presses down small stones, forming a smooth, firm seedbed. Where seed has been broadcast, the roller gently firms the soil around the seeds, ensuring shallow seed placement and excellent seed-to-soil contact." 

We had the seed applied this morning and now those lovely little seeds are getting good soil contact so that in a few days we should start seeing beautiful green shoots emerging!  We should have a nice lush 8-10 inch high diverse pasture ready to graze by late June.  We plant a mix of about 7 grasses, 5 different clovers and several legumes.  This gives the cattle the proper balance of protein, energy and micro-nutrients.  We are pleased with how our established pasture is returning also!  It should be ready to graze by the first of May which is just in time for the new cattle.  Elli's sheep and the 425 chicks in the brooder will also be moved to fresh pasture very soon!

One of the new projects we are working on is a two acre Monarch Butterfly habitat prairie.  This will be located north of our road before the barns and close to the road for friends to enjoy. Our seed mix includes a very diverse blend of about 35 varieties of native plants that pollinators and wildlife will go crazy over!  This habitat along with our farms almost 200 acres of pasture will be an oasis of diversity in a surrounding landscape of GMO, chemically sprayed corn and beans.

One of the tenants we abide by is: We believe in increasing diversity on the farm.  This diversity increases soil health, ecological health and results in better pastures and healthy animals. For you, our customer, this means you end up with a high quality, ethically raised meat that you can feel great about feeding to your family.  Have an excellent Spring!

All the best! 
Jen