hi there, we just finalized the purchase of a property we have been leasing for 5 yers. Before we finalized the purchase the owner had about 10 acres logged with a fellerbuncher, delimiter,and skider. it was 60-80 year growth eastern white pine and hemlock forest. there was very little topsoil to start with, lots of gravel in a good portion on the cleared site. we asked that they not remove the stumps so hold on to what soil we did have. most of the clearing is on a hill side. we have a 35 horse tractor with forks and a bucket, and put much financial bandwidth to get much more for equipment. we plan to use the cleared portion to operate a multi species rotational grazing plan, goats, cows, chickens and pigs.
My question is what is the best way to handle this land given our resources? we are 2 adults 3 kids (16, 13, & 5). now that the snow and ice has melted off we are seeing the reality of the work infant of us. we really want to do the best job for the land. our hope is to create an ally cropping type system.
would it be best to pile all the slash in an on-contour row and make huggiculture mounds with it, pile the slash and burn it, move it off site and compost it elsewhere? im feeling paralyzed by the amount of work ahead of us and all the many many options...
many thanks in advance for the advice
