Progress

Things are moving along here. I have posted some pictures to show the progress

I keep posting pictures of the clear-cut and sheep and I imagine to most people they all must look the same. My point is to show some of the progress of the change in vegetation from woodland to grass/clover and the mechanism of its change, i.e. target grazing. I realize the progress is slow and may not appear that apparent. In this post I have a picture of what looks like sticks and fairly bare ground. The purpose of this picture is to show how effective the sheep and goats are at removing vegetation. The second picture is showing a before shot of that same area. This before and after occurred in 2 days. The idea is to take the animals and put them in a very small area for a short time (about 60’x60’ per 20 head for 1 1/2 to 2 days). In this short time they will not over graze the good “desirable” grasses and clover they will however remove a fairly uniform amount of vegetation. This vegetation is then deposited on the ground (yes poop!) where the desirable plants can access it instead of it being tied up in the growth of brush. Grasses and clovers have evolved to be grazed and to grow back afterwards, brush and forbs have not. Little by little the woody plants are being stunted and the grasses and clovers are getting an advantage. Another point that is important is distributing the seed of the desirable grasses and clovers. Before the sheep are moved to another spot clover and timothy seed is broadcast by hand onto the ground. As the sheep work around the small area there little hooves are pushing the seed into the ground. You can imagine that combination of removing vegetative cover, applying manure and working the seed into the ground makes for a very good environment for the establishment of a good grass/clover field.

We have broken ground on the house!!

The cellar hole was dug this weekend and the foundation is being poured this week into next (it does not look like much of a hole since the house is slightly on a hill so we can have a daylight basement). It has been a long process to get ready to build this house, and we still have a long way to go, however it is good to finally be moving ahead. I am working hard to get a roof on the barn so we can get some hay in before winter. The target grazing / pasture project is going well, I am learning a lot about target grazing and I am now able to move and fence the sheep to have a dramatic impact on the unwanted vegetation. I am getting patches of clover and Timothy popping up in different places where I have moved the sheep through. I think in another season the clear-cut will look very different than it does this year. The animals are doing well but I think Paulette's horses are tired of bing in a little paddock for so long.

Took the day off and look what it led to.

We went to a friend’s house in New Hampshire for a Labor day “red neck” party and look what it led to. We were supposed to dress up like a red neck. This group was able to play the part very well. What does it mean when you realize the your red neck costume is just some clean work clothes?

New Addition

Here are a couple pictures of the new ram. There is a debate over what to name him; he didn’t come with a name. Mack wants it to be Gigantor, Paulette wants it to be Mojo and I think it should be Business Time. I bought him along with a few ewe lambs from Wayne Fields. He has some really nice animals. I was varying happy I made the 2 hour trip. I will put him with the ewes December 1st.

The Barn is still coming along and I am hopping to have the siding up and the roof on by the end of the month. I am not complaining but things go much slower than I would like since I am just a “one man band”. Paulette helps out when she can but she has her hands full behind the scenes keeping everything going. Besides if she ever did manage to get a full sheet of 5/8 plywood up the wind would take her away for sure.

The sheep are doing a nice job chewing down the brush. It is impressive to see the areas they started on and how much grass has filled in. I have come to realize that what I am doing with the sheep, using them to establish a pasture, actually has a name it is called target grazing. I have been doing some reading on it and some people have actually started business using sheep and goats to graze off brush and invasive plants. I have found quite a few resources on it and have made some changes of my method for the better.

Steady progress

It has been crazy here since the move. All the animals are comfortable and we are happy to be in the rental house so close to them but life has not let up. We have been busy getting all the bank and contractor “stuff” done so we can get building the new house. I have been siding the barn, moving sheep and taking care of the other animals. There always seems to be more to do that I could ever get done (Mack has been in CT with his mother for the month of July so I am a one man band, he is a great worker and I miss his help). I figure as long as I keep my work focused I will continually make forward progress. The grass is really growing well.
I have been moving the sheep around forcing them to eat the stump re-growth. I have been confining them to small areas and broadcasting more seed before putting them on a new spot. There little feet do a great job working the seed into the ground and I have been surprised at how fast the new grass and clover starts to grow.
One really great thing that has happened is I was able to get a guard dog for the sheep. The coyotes around here are pretty active. You can hear them talking to each other right on our property. I really lucked out when one of my friends (Jocelyn B) found an ad for a free livestock guard dog (LGD). I spent bunch of time learning about them and what makes a good LGD. The short story is he is working out wonderfully. I am so relieved to have him out there with the sheep.
I have posted a bunch of pictures, just a sampling of what is going on. If all goes well we should be breaking ground for the new house in a few weeks.

We did it! Foster farm is now a farm!!!!

This weekend we moved everything from Paulette’s place up onto the hill, sheep, horse, dogs, equipment, and hay, all of it. The house we are renting is perfect. It is hard to believe we are actually there. It is perfect, I can work until it is time to eat and just ride the 4 wheeler to the house, ~500 yards, and after dinner am able to pick at some chore for an hour or two and still have time for a beer and some TV with Paulette before bed. She is happy that we are so close to the animals as well. I will get some pictures but I just wanted to post a note saying we had made the move.

Holy (….) it is really happening!!!!

Well The barn is in the process of being built, Paulette’s house has sold, and we need to be out of there by the end of the month! It has been crazy to say the least. Paulette and I have been working hard to get all the pieces in a row so that we can start building the house as soon as possible and get all our belongings and loved ones packed up and ready to move by the end of the month. Our plan is to start building by mid July and be in the house by Christmas. In 2 weeks I need to move all the animals, sheep, horses and dogs, up onto the hill. Most likely the barn will be done and a well drilled by the end of July so I will only have to deal with hauling water for a little while. The animals will be in hoop shelters for the month – not a big issue since we have been using them in the pastures for a couple years now.
Here is the really great news: we are renting the house at the end of the driveway to the land. We will be about 1000’ from the animals. The people that own the house live in Florida and they are excited to have someone watch the house while they are gone. This is great news since 1. We found a great new neighbor 2. The house is in Poland so Mack can get on and off the bus, 3. It is close to the land 4. It is solar electric so we are going to be able to learn all about living with solar electricity before designing our system.
Oh and the grass is starting to come in patches. I think it is going work but I think I will have to use the animals to graze down the scrub and step in new seed before it is going to really take off.