Hello! I've been lurking the forums for several months now after finishing my PDC in November. In this first post I wanted to introduce what I've been up to and what my plans are moving forward with the property my partner and I are leasing. We're a young farming couple with off-farm jobs hoping to increase the amount of food and income we can make off the land. Hoping to get some feedback and encouragement to carry us through the last stretch of winter!
LAND: May will mark 2 years since we moved here from NH and we are in the process of getting a 2-year lease signed that will allow us to apply for a number of grants/loans/cost-share programs. Suggestions for such things are welcome! Currently on our radar is the NRCS cost-share for season extension hoop house installation and I've heard tell of a grant regarding wildlife habitat creation, though we'd need a forest management plan first. We're working with about 30 acres in Western MA (zone 5). About 15 acres of pasture and 15 wooded, lots of sloped ground, a vernal pool, and other wetter areas. The main downfall of the property is the set of utility lines that cut through it... we try not to spend a great deal of time under them, although we do have to graze the animals under them every so often. Haven't noticed any obvious ill effects yet although they do make buzzing noises when it's very humid or raining/snowing. The original house is very old (late 1700s) and there are two large barns dating from the late 1800s and early 1900s. We keep most of our animals in the lower level of the older, larger barn, though the brooder for chicks is in the older barn. The barns both have slate roofs and it would be amazing if we could capture some rainwater off of them, but the eaves are quite high and we're not sure where/how we'd contain all the precious water... Area between the barn is asphalt in mediocre condition. There are some strong north/west winds that rip through in the winter. We are hoping to create some hedgerows for windbreaks in the pasture and closer to the house. There are 5 apple trees planted in the 80s that we've been working on pruning back. The varieties are nothing special, definitely one Red Delicious (why?!?). We'd love to graft on other types next spring though that's not something we have any experience with. There's a nice grove of black walnut trees on the slope behind the barns, and we have tons of young and old black locust farther uphill that we'd like to use for building and fencing projects. The fields were mostly hayed or set stocked for the few years before we arrived so we've had our work cut out hacking back multiflora rose and grapevine along field edges. The animals certainly help but some of those bushes are impenetrable!
ANIMALS: The hope is to start a small organic + pasture-raised meat and egg CSA. I've been loosely custom grazing 3-4 head of cattle for the last two seasons, which was the original impetus for fencing the pasture. I would love to purchase a few head of Red Devon beef cattle since I'm sick of buying so much grain and eating animals that eat so much grain! The really crazy part of me thinks it'd be a great time to buy up milking equipment and a few Milking Devons or Jerseys for a 100% grass-fed raw milk dairy operation but 1. Massachusetts has so many regulations and licensing fees that any sort of business-scale setup sounds like a total nightmare and 2. I don't want to get ridiculously in debt to make that dream happen and we certainly don't have the money to start that up now. Note that I have several years experience working with organic pasture-based dairy cows. The two Saanen goat doelings we have were purchased after I ended my last dairy job and figured it'd be nice to have a milk goat or two down the line. Though it'll be another year yet until they give birth! Until then they're great pets, walking buddies, and rose-eating-machines. We purchased 5 Tunis sheep from some friends who were dispersing their herd of 30 back in October. One ram and four ewes. The first lambs were born last night! Planning to raise them for meat. We've also been raising about 100-150 broiler chickens each summer over the last two years (in batches). This year we're looking to do 200-300. There are about 30 hens and a few accompanying roosters that free range the yard (Dark Cornish, Welsummer, and SL Wyandottes), and a month ago we welcomed 100 female chicks who will be producing lots of saleable eggs by mid-late summer. We rotated 5 hogs around the eastern perimeter of our pasture last summer after they did a nice job of digging up a new garden plot for us and we currently have two more in the barn being fed all our food waste, expired/reject foodstuffs from the local co-op, some scraps from my restaurant job, and organic grain whenever we're lacking in other feed. They'll be going to slaughter at the end of April. Hopefully all this snow melts in time for them to do some digging outside!
We made a Fedco trees order that includes a mulberry, a pair of siberian peashrubs, 10 everbearing raspberries, 9 hybrid hazelnuts, 2 shrub willows, and lots of sawdust mushroom spawn! The plants will be picked up at the end of April and the spawn should be arriving in the next month. There are some maples that shade the kitchen garden that we plan to cut down for inoculating. If we save up some extra cash before the tree sale I'd love to purchase more plants while we're up in Maine (especially elderberries).
Hedgerow plants-
I've been doing some research recently to put together a list of potential plants I could use in my windbreaks. Some of these could be transplanted from elsewhere, others would need to be seeded or purchased as saplings. Obvious preference for those that could be freely acquired! Many of these are medicinal, both for humans and livestock/wildlife. I'm about to start a second year herbalism course and am excited to make more medicine this year, both from my cultivated plants and those locally wildcrafted.
Canopy
Black Locust
Black Walnut
Alder
Linden
Oak
Poplar
Chestnut?
Edible/Medicinal Understory
American Persimmon
Apple
Cornellian Cherry
Hawthorn
Hazelnut
Mulberry
Pawpaw
Elderberry
Serviceberry
Senna
Witch Hazel
Siberian Peashrub
Highbush Cranberry
Shrub Willow
Sumac
Sea Buckthorn
Herbs for Edges
Anise Hyssop
Clovers
Comfrey, maybe...
Yarrow
Good King Henry
Stinging Nettle
Thyme
Sorrel
Borage
Chicory
Plantain
Angelica
At some point I'd like to elaborate on my plans closer up to the house. Starting with the big picture, thanks for sticking with me!
Lots of dreams and so little time! It's so easy to get overwhelmed. Please please ask me any clarifying questions or throw down ideas and suggestions! Thank you, all.
