Michael Unger

The ground is flat and the water tables is high. The ground can be moist into June. Digging 3 to 4 feet down you hit water and clay. I've only dug another 2 feet into the clay after that. I am trying to be respectful of the woodland's natural way of doing things. Working with many preexisting clearings, and clearing windfall and young bush to expand. I would like to incorporate the alders into my hedgerows for their nitrogen fixing properties. The total area of space we are talking is 1.5 acres. Definitely not looking to shock the woods in the same way the loggers did.

I have 80acres of mostly peat bog, being completely wooded mostly with conifers. Stands of alder and young tamarack grow were there was logging some 25 years ago. (According to the locals) The idea now is to establish some small pasture area so we could raise goats, sheep, and grains.
Right now my plan is to coppice the new growth, in the former clear cuts. Thus allowing for lots of fodder for goats. As the goats clear the regrowth in an area I would cut the alders to the ground. Follow that with cover crop seeding via chicken tractor. The next year would maybe see pigs pastured before seeding grains and grasses.

Thoughts? Suggestions?
-Duck grazing?
-Is moist peat bog a problem for hoofed animals?
-Ideal chicken, goat, and pig breeds for woodland and pasture foraging? (Cold Hardy)