David Nash

I am new to sheep and recently got some registered Katahdin sheep:  a ram, ewe, and their offspring from  this year a boy and a girl.
I know I can't line breed registered stock but I don't really have a budget to buy another registered ram.  

Do breeders ever swap young stock to ensure genetic diversity.  I'd like to trade my young lamb for another farms young registered lamb.
Of course I know about biosecurity and would be more than willing to get mine tested for disease.

I understand totally, I didn't include the full plan, stage one and only a few acres have this arrangement, because sugar maple, popular and walnut all help wild stimulated ginseng.  (which those growing beds would be fenced off from goats....)  The rest of the forest pasture will include other nut and fruit trees as well as other timber species.  What you provided gives me a lot of insight and help. Thanks.

I bought some land that has little pasture and 15+ acres of woodland - I want forest garden - silvopasture. The plan is to have goats, a dexter cow, and maybe (MAYBE) a horse.
I am in Middle TN, and want to plant sugar maple, tulip poplar, and black walnut and seed a mix of orchardgrass and white clover. Looking for suggestions on grass species that are goat and cow safe and can tolerate shade and proximity to walnut...
I have done a lot of research, but it is scary starting out and being afraid of planting the wrong thing...

I just bought a small farm (25 acres of slope and woods) I am having trouble finding information on terrace building. I don't have equipment, but I am in the processe buying a tractor with a FEL and a backhoe. Any advise would be appreciated

From internet research I have come to think that a rotary plow on a old gravely walk behind tractor is the cheapest/best solution for me in regards to terracing off the hill side my land is made from - it is one single slope (with one large terraced spot in the middle of the property that a mobile home once sat on).  The water races down the hill and continually ruts and destroys my gravel driveway.

I want to terrace the upper half of my 5 acres and plant growies - to include fruit trees

My Question is:
How do you actually use a rotary plow to make a terrace - 5 feet wide on a slope of more than 20 degrees but less than 45.

Thanks Travis.  My buddy has a kubota and swears by it.  But he also said he looked hard at the new holland brand first, and when I went to the NH dealer (I have a NH and bota dealer in my town) and compared the kubota bx25 with the workmaster I liked the NH better - then I found that LS makes the NH tractors and the LS is the same tractor at 25% discount under their own brand.

I understand the parts issue as my current backhoe is so old I can't get parts and it causes me constant headache, but cost is a huge issue.

I have 5 acres on a hill, the bottom is flat, the middle is terraced off for a double-wide and yard, and the top is flat, but the majority is hillside, there is a driveway in need of serious rework (not crowned or ditched and needs grading every rain) and a grown over log road that rins from top to bottom.

I have a spring fed pond that has been ignored for decades and has turned into a almost complete silted over marsh.

I want to build earth sheltered greenhouses and terraces into the hillside for planting.

I currently own a 1960 era john deer backhoe that costs me every time I start it as it won't stay running.

I am looking into a subcompact/compact tractor with a loader and backhoe

Hor the budget I am looking at either a TYM or a LS brand.

I am having a hard time comparing and can't mind prices anywhere.

Does anyone have any thoughts or revelations?

Do you still have the bags?

I want them for a living hedge, and want a thorned variety, but everywhere I look only sells the thornless. Does anyone know a source for seeds for the thorned honey locust?

I have been interested in ferrocement for some time, I just did not have a place to build with it - now that I have a small homestead I am working on a ferrocement building guide - right now I am working on a FC conduit dome and a FC cabin - but the intent of the book is to start with limestone, cinter it with clay to make the portland cement and build a variety of homestead projects from animal hutches and shelters, fencing, water storage and aquaponic tanks, and of course a few types of buildings.

I recently shot some youtube footage on slaking limestone and building the dome frame.

The book project is in its last week on kickstarter if you are interested in seeing the videos I have up so far.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tngun/ferrocement-for-sustainable-living-a-guide-for-bui

cement has a negative reputation in regards to sustainability - but it can be made on site in small quantities and it absorbs carbon as it ages (which makes up for the carbon it releases as it is formed) - I like it because it is a flexible material that is inexpensive and owner buildable.