Mona Tobies

Hallo Amber,
as someone keeping horses, much of their need is similar to donkeys needs, but I wouldn't assume that you'll be able to feed them entirely of your property ( even if you plant nothing but grass). Your regional AG Office might have data in how many acres are needed for 1 animal, you should still get 2, in my opinion a decent rescue shouldn't give you one to be kept alone. There is always a reason why they land in a rescue, often  age and the associated health problems... Read read read before you commit!

I checked the german version of the book, the part about the high bed is titled hochbeet which I would translate to raised bed, but it then goes on to talk about terrasses and dams, I think a stepped berm would have been an easier translation. No plant material inside is emphasised to prevent sinking. The bushes planted at an angle are in fact berry bushes, but the word used 'Beerenobst' is unusual to me, might be an Austrian thing.

I really enjoy this series! I just bought the German kindel version because I sometimes wanted to know what was said before the translator messed around with it and it hast been quite enjoyable so far (also, as a native german speaker getting the translation makes no  Sense, even if it would have been cheaper).
I felt like there was plenty of description of the mixed forrest Holzer prefers, I think Pauls feeling of not beeing told the important parts might stem from clumsy translation using to many 'the's.
If someone would like to have an alternative translation for a particular part, feel free to message me or answer here!

Concerning straw: I also don't associate simply completely dry gras with it. In my context, straw is made from cereal grains after the grain is harvested. In this situation the expectation of more herbicides and less seeds in straw makes perfekt sense. You can't buy straw made of a normal field around here, general grases are used for hay, silage or the between stages.