The ice storm that started us

The conditions that made us feel enough was enough with the way we viewed how we should eat and live.

Ice storm

Fallen limbs and ice everywhere.  This storm left us without power for 9 days.

Our driveway

Limbs hanging down and you cant even tell where the driveway is.

Trees down

It was a chore to clear our way out.  This was one of several areas like this in our driveway alone.

Cleared up some

Finally got a path out.  This is what we considered good.  We still had trees everywhere.

Beauty in ice

There is a beauty to untouched snow and ice even considering the damage it created.

Days to get out

It took us days just to get out of our own driveway.  We were left without power for 9 days which we lost all of our freezer food.

The paved road

The road our driveway links to.  This was the view when we first got out of our driveway.

A Field of Progress - The Beginning

The pasture we enjoy today did not exist when we first started.  It was cleared using animals, a chainsaw and a ton of labor.

The beginning 2021/22 - 23

This is the entry to the field when it started.  There was not gate or even a fence there.  The posts were in place but the wire was rolled back

Forest to fence

The forest had grown into the fence.  This all needed to get pushed back.  We didn't have livestock at this point.

Clearing brush

The brush had to get cleared out so we could maintain and repair the fence.

Livestock added

The addition of the animals added vegetation control.  Sometimes too much.

The end of the first season

A full season with several animals.  We learned what was best for us and what was not.

2nd season begins

The arrival of the second season brings new changes to the pasture.

Turkeys out

The first year turkeys raising the next generation in the field.  One of our best hatchings to date.

Second year field

The second year brought lessons and lots of labor to change the landscape over the duration.  

A Field of Progress - Learning Livestock

The field itself was used to the max as we learned different animals from goats, sheep, turkeys to beef.  Our neighboring parcel is a tree farm and they cleaned the hardwood off thier land.  The start of erosion issues on our field.

Spring 2023

Picking up in 2023 where The Beginning left off.

Life begins

Seeing the land cleared out with animals grazing what looks like a picturesque landscape.

Beef

An attempt was made to raise our own beef.  It worked but required more land than what we could offer.  His presence changed the land.

Fall approaches again

A fall addition was added to our flock to continue our sheep journey.

First Ram

We aquired our first ram and put him right to work.  He was a large boy with great shape but fit our freezer better than the field in personality.

Cold Sets In

As the ice sets in, the field is about to be change forever without us knowing then.  Erosion and our own animals soon become our enemy.

A Field of Progress - Utilizing the Land

Learning to use the wood from the clearing  the field to be productive and create a dry lot to feed the ruminants.  Erosion from the loss of nearby trees and the high volume of livestock take its toll.  Clearing the land and fighting erosion became a priority.

Spring sets in

Baron landscape is what our land wakes up like.  All of our soil gone and all of the plant life gone.

Patiently watching

Trees grow in, but nothing is growing on the ground.  This is disappointing.

Everything is green but

I mean, there is SOME grass.  But realistically not sustainable.  I know changes have to start.

Hay as cover

Not knowing what else to do I started just throwing hay around the field instead of on the feed bunk area.   Manually spread hay over areas at a time.

Improvement

After doing this several times life started coming back.  But something else had to change.

Dry Lot

This is an area you sacrifice and hold the animals in so they can eat hay but not forage the rest of the pasture.  This started to help though the fence was too low.

Erosion shows

Putting that hay on the ground put a spotlight on what was going on and what we were/are fighting against.

The peak

The fence came to a point I think it looked the best and was very functional.  Again, sheep great - some goats escaped (Buttercup - Im talking about you!).

A Field of Progress - Or maybe not...

Clearing land was moving fast and doubling the potential field space. Then goats destroy our turkey pen and we have to use the dry lot to put the fence around the turkey area.  Yes these pictures are in order.

Rapid Growth

Chainsaws sing, fences come up as land opens.  I take what I learned in the pasture and make a new exterior fence for a new pasture.

Land Cleared

Downhill of the pasture you know this.  It was woods but this is a new vision of a pasture.  Rotational grazing is the goal.

It's gone

The goats destroyed my turkey pen.  So we had to move the fence around the turkeys due to feed incompatibilities. 

Spots

Instead of manual hay dispersion we changed to moving the round where we wanted to put hay down and feeding them there.

The fence moved

The fence that was the dry lot now became the turkey pen.  We also added a dog pen outside because of Luna's whelp.

Dry lot coming back

Updates have been made adding gate openings from the previous version.  This allows future divisions and access as a sally port as needed.

Dogs Den

The dogs need their private space too in the field.  Imagine trying to eat with 2 sheep breathing down your back.  A good dog deserves dinner.
Our Story

Our Story

 Our Livestock

Our Livestock

 Our Garden

Our Garden