Kelley Kennon

I'm looking for critique and ideas - I'm new at this, and trying to picture how it will work and fit together.  

We bought a horse farm of 200+ acres woods/trails and hay.  There's no perimeter fence, but 3x 4-acre HILLY pastures we don't want to mow, 4 connected paddocks and 2 more separate paddocks - about 1.5 acres total, all with (currently broken) jug watering systems.  All fencing is white vinyl horse fencing that will have to be upgraded (long term plan is living fence).

We want to: rotationally graze a small flock of sheep and goats, protecting them with livestock guardian dogs.  

Sheep/goats for: mowing the hills, improve the soil, snuggle the animals.  Bonus if we can get milk or wool, but it would just be for homestead use - no huge production.  Zebus could be an option as well.

LGDs for: protecting the sheep/goats, and (separate) chickens, chasing deer from the garden.  Predator pressure isn't very high, but there are definitely black bears, foxes, coyotes, hawks in the area.

Big questions:
Do we get the animals first or the LGDs first?  What is the order of operations?  
Do the LGDs get fenced in with the rotating animals or do they free roam the whole farm?  How does this work, on a practical level?  If they're free-roaming, how do they bond with the animals that are fenced in?  If they're in the fence, how to they work the rest of the farm?

Not sure what species the wood is - definitely hardwood.  Nearby trees are hickory, oak and poplar.  It's definitely old, and in a shady spot.  

I'm looking for experienced opinions.
I have a pile of stumps on the edge of the woods, about 300' from the house.  They've been there for a few years now.  I'm wondering if I can start throwing our kitchen scraps (no meat/dairy) out there to bury it, hugel-style and get the whole thing to decompose a lot faster, rather than hosting snakes and other critters.  I've read about hugel mounds, but haven't actually built one.  I don't think I can move the wood - it's too big and tangled up.

We do have black bears and other wildlife in the area, so that's also on my radar, don't want to tempt them close to the house...

I just came across this idea and am wondering if anyone has built one?

I'm thinking about a worm bed for under the night roosts for our chickens, in the new coop I'm building.  I'm also wondering about black soldier fly larvae vs meal worms vs red wigglers - can they live together?  Which can handle the nitrogen?  Would a combo work best?

Maybe removable trays that I can rotate out so they don't get oversaturated? - at this point is there value in having the worms/larvae in the actual coop?

How about incorporating garden compost or kitchen scraps?  Net improvement or would that just overcomplicate things?

Concerns about feeding chickens bugs that have been eating their poop?

cross section:

chicken roosts
1" mesh
thick mulch layer (old hay? wood chips? amazon boxes?)
BSFL
worms
corrogated plastic to line the bottom(?)
drain for catching vermicompost tea

One thing I’m a bit concerned about is bears and other wildlife - we have small black bears here.  Do gardens attract bears?

And I guess my bigger question is, is a kitchen garden generally in place of or in addition to a food forest?

And, how much to hedgerows tend to get munched by wildlife?  Is the hedgerow going to be a fun hobby or is it going to feed us?

We’ve had a year+ living close by but not on the property, so we’ve observed it some. Our house is supposed to be done this fall, and I’m hoping I can start by choosing the garden site now and getting the soil prepped so it’s ready to plant next spring.

I’m trying to figure out what kind of space I want for growing food on our new homestead.  I’ve got about 20 acres to work with.  It’s currently a picturesque hay field on the crown of a gentle hill, surrounded by woods as the land gets steeper.  I’m primarily growing food for our family of 5, and to share with friends/neighbors.  I love the idea of a self-sustaining food forest or hedgerow, and/or a garden that mixes perennials and annuals.  Would you build up the edges with food plants like a hedgerow?  Or turn a patch into a food forest?  In addition to or instead of a kitchen garden?  And what to do about the deer??

jordan barton wrote:have you considered covering the area in 1 foot or so of wood chips? I noticed you said it was shady. Might over time break down into some nice soil. It would also bring the fungal process into play. leave it to some mushrooms to do the work.... Over time leaves will fall on it and it will eventually start to grow into the forest surrounding it.

We have a giant pile of brush from the clearing process, but no chipper and haven’t been able to get any chip drops yet.  Our contractor wants to just burn it, but we might be able to find someone to chip it for us.  Does it matter if the chips are put down before vs after the new topsoil?

Michael Helmersson wrote:This post is fun. We have a tractor "road" that we use to access our growing areas and building site(s). One day, when we're done with big projects, I want to replant the road and let the canopy reclose. We have footpaths through the woods to all our areas of activity, so one fine day there'll be no need for roads. Thanks for the nudge to imagine.

Yeah, that’s what this is/was.  It was used for logging many years ago, horses, and accessing the hay fields.  The new road will work better for accessing our build site (former hay field).

I’d love to keep a smaller footpath on the old road to access edibles - whether they can grow on the clay, or if they need to be on the side.  The logs filling in the eroded areas should effectively be hugulkultur, so maybe that’s where we can plant things that need more nurturing.

Thanks for the replies!  
I’ll talk to our contractor and see if he can break up the old road a bit.  It’s not gravel, or at least you can’t find any gravel anymore. It’s compacted clay, quartz and veins of shale stone with a strip growing down the middle that’s mostly stiltgrass with a few other weeds.  Aside from the stone, it softens a bit in the rain.  One side was really badly eroded and we’re filling that with the larger logs and brush from the clearing process.  The old road starts with a small clearing on one side, but soon there are young trees all around. Most are maybe 4” diameter, the biggest are 10-12” with a couple larger.  So primarily shade, but there’s some sun peeking through.  I’ll see if I can post a picture later this afternoon.

We are moving a section of road through the woods on our property and are looking to replant the old road with something fun.  It’s maybe a quarter mile of compacted clay with some topsoil getting dumped on top, running through woods that are mostly oak and hardwoods.  We’re in VA, zone 6a.  

What would you put in?  I’m thinking to start with some big taproots like comfrey and dandelions to help break up the clay and add ground cover like clover and strawberries, perhaps.  Some bigger shrubs or smaller trees might be fun, too.  Blueberries and raspberries?  Huckleberries?  Serviceberry?  There isn’t much edible understory in there yet - lots of deer berries and stilt grass.  We’d love to slowly add more and more edibles.