Around the Farm
Updates all around.
It has been a while since I have written anything here. You will see in this letter that I have some updates dated 7/7/25. I intended to get a ‘farm update’ out around then, but didn’t manage it. Thanks for hanging around with us.
I write these ‘updates’ because I wish others would do the same. I like feeling like I am being brought along on other’s journeys. This is my attempt to bring you along.
I am going to push this out without a ton of refinement. Grammatical errors are “in” now, by the way. It proves I am not an AI bot. So, consider the grammer mistakes a plus.
You can see my previous update here:
The Orchard
7/7/25
The orchard has taken a backseat to other areas of the farm. Of all the areas I’m actively managing, this is the farthest away and the “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” saying applies here. Thankfully, the tornado that dropped on our farm and blew down well over 30 full-grown trees only took out one tree in the orchard. It was the last remnant from the first orchard - the pear tree that we had meticulously pruned and thinned in anticipation of a bountiful pear harvest this year. Really disappointing. With the amount of work the tornado clean-up added to my plate, I’ve barely set foot back in the orchard since. Recently, when I made time to walk it, I noticed that I missed the plum harvest and the mulberry harvest. The mulberry harvest is elusive to me. The birds get them way before I do. Overall, the trees continue to look healthy. I’ve found growing fruit trees to be tough. They have always humbled me. I don’t plan on ever spraying pesticides on them. I would like to figure out alternative methods, and they exist. I’m trying to learn the seasonal patterns of fruit trees so I can come alongside them and help them along. When do they need nutritional supplementation? When do they need protective support against insect and disease pressure? What does a sanitary orchard look like? How do viruses, fungal, and bacterial diseases present themselves? It will take time and a whole-lotta-learning. And work.
9/25/25
In the orchard, the weeds that are herbaceous perennials are big now. [Herbaceous perennials are plants that have soft and supple tissue in spring, harden up and get woody late in the year, tops die back in the winter, and come back each year.] This means I will have to get a tractor and bush-hog in there to tackle the mowing. For now, I’m telling myself the mowing can wait and that tall, herbaceous plants growing alongside and underneath the fruit trees is OK. Whenever I get around to working in the orchard again, I’ll take pictures and share more thoughts here.
The Terraced Garden
7/7/25
Not much action has happened with the terraced garden. Morgan planted some old seeds and some leftover tomato starts that I grew at my work. The upper portion that I completed is on the shadier side. It will be home to perennial herbs and flowers. It looks pitiful now. I mulched it with straw that had some seed leftover in it. Whoops! Not the vision I had in my head. It will come.
The fruit trees that I planted in this area are doing OK. The figs are growing really well. The pear is growing well. The apples… Not so much. First it was cedar apple rust that knocked ‘em back. Now it is the Japanese beetles that have ravaged ‘em. I marked it in my noticing journal and won’t let that happen next year. We have friends who told us to plant pears and not worry with apples because they are so finicky. I heard them, but I wanted apples. I didn’t want to believe them. I still want apples, but so far, they are right - apples are finicky.
I will be working to terrace the garden over the winter and early next spring. Hopefully, it will be done in time for warm-season plantings.
9/25/25
The two beds that were planted in tomatoes did fine. They were completely neglected, weren’t trellised, and still produced some tomatoes. I used the “Sun Seeker” app (highly recommend) to see how much sun this area will get and it will range from 4-6 hours of direct sun and a couple hours of dappled shade. That will do for leafy vegetables and herbs.
I’m aiming to complete the terracing by March 15th. That way, we can plant a full garden by our house next year! Fingers crossed.
The Pasture Garden
7/7/25
The pasture garden did not happen this year. I just never got around to making it happen. Perhaps we will do a fall garden in this area. Probably not.
9/25/25
Aiming again for next spring!
The Food Plots
7/7/25
Well, my plan didn’t work. I seeded in mid-April and it was too late. The grasses quickly took over the field and without the use of herbicides my seeding had no chance to get fully established. This is going to be a tough field to manage without herbicides. My plan moving forward is to seed a mix of clover and cereal rye this fall; sometime in the late August timeframe. Theoretically, this should not have any issues getting established. The warm season grasses will be on their way out and after a good mowing and discing, the rye and clover should perform well enough to create a nice blanket of foliage heading into the winter. Then, early next spring, my goal will be to get a head start and plant vetch and spring oats a couple months before the summer grasses kick it into high gear. Theoretically, this should provide enough time to get a solid stand and a dense canopy that will shade out the grasses underneath. The weeds will still grow but they won’t dominate. Instead of planting a really diverse mix of plants, I will likely plant a few fast-growing crops that will germinate in cooler soils. This includes vetch and oats.
We do have Johnsongrass in this field and I don’t have a plan for it yet.
The reality is, this will take time. Seasons come and they go, on their schedule not mine. So I have to surrender to the process.
9/25/25
I seeded Ladino clover, crimson clover, and cereal rye into the wildlife plots. I left some of the warm season grasses standing to provide some cover for deer and turkey, bush-hogged the rest and drilled seed. Thankfully I caught the rain perfectly and the seed germinated well. I’ll be curious to see how the fields look in December. Hopefully they are lush with clover and the warm season grasses are still standing, providing solid cover for wildlife.
After planting, I heard from a reputable source that cereal rye isn’t a good choice for wildlife. They recommended wheat.
The Silvopasture
7/7/2025 - The silvopasture is full of a perennial grass called dallisgrass. The seed heads are knee high now and it is thick. I have intentionally let the pasture grow all season without cutting it in an effort to build up the soil’s organic matter. (I talked about this in the last farm update.) So far, I’m really pleased. The plant material above the surface of the soil is thick and there are no areas of the pasture where the soil is uncovered. This means I am capturing as much energy from the sun as possible which is vital for a robust pasture ecosystem.
However, there are mixed reviews on dallisgrass. It spreads rapidly and has a tendency to dominate a pasture. It is also indicative of pastures with poor soils that don’t drain well. I think this pasture drains OK, but I’m sure the soil is not high-quality. I need to test it. Speaking of testing soils… I don’t know why I don’t do it. To take my garden-farming to the next level and have the lands that I steward really flourish, I need to get serious about understanding the reality of my soils - and my plants. I’ve been listening to John Kempf’s podcast and it is clear to me that testing is the next iteration of my growth if I am going to grow as a garden-farmer. I wish I had Gene Logsdon to call and chat with. I’m certain he’d understand me and help me put into words why I don’t want to test anything. Perhaps it is laziness. Perhaps it is naivety. Perhaps I just want to add compost, graze animals, add organic matter, grow diverse plants, spray some compost teas and have it all flourish. It doesn’t work that way. It can work that way, but it won’t flourish and disease/insect pressure will still be around. If I want the land I’m stewarding to get as close to its genetic potential as possible and minimize pest and disease levels to their lowest possible point (all without the use of synthetic chemicals) I will have to test my soils and plants (sap analysis). This will give me the clearest picture of where my soils are lacking and where my plants are lacking. I’ll do it eventually. Maybe.
The fruit trees I planted in this pasture are doing OK. So far, they are all making it along nicely. Some are better than others. This is their first year in the ground and all have made significant growth. The apples have struggled. Japanese beetles and the cedar apple rust really impacted their growth. I’m taking a wait and see approach. Of the 7 (or so) apples that I planted, 3 are doing pretty well. I’m thinking I will pick out the best performing one I have and propagate it. Maybe replace the ones that really struggle with the better performing ones. However, It would be nice to taste the fruit before moving forward with this plan. So I have a few years of watching and observing.
The Chickens
7/7/25
Of the 6 chickens our neighbor gave us, 4 were roosters. So, we started with 2 hens and 4 roosters. Shortly after getting these chickens, our same neighbor said she knew of someone downsizing their flock and asked if we wanted three of their hens. We said “of course” and brought the 3 new chickens home. Immediately, 2 of our roosters began tormenting the new hens. Unfortunately for them farmer Morgan saw their mistreatment of our new hens and she would have nothing of it. “OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!” she yelled. (Not really, but kinda).
We harvested two of them and had them for dinner. The kids… helped. It was a blend of trying to hold some space for “boys being boys” and also teaching them the importance of holding a sense of reverence when you take an animal’s life. For example, I’m fine if you want to touch the chicken’s eye or hold the heart, etc. But I’m not ok with poking the eye with a stick. I want my children to be connected to the reality of something giving it’s life so that we can live and thrive. To do that, I think reverence during the process is important.
At this point we had 5 hens and 2 roosters. Two out of the five were laying.
Our chickens are in an acre (or so) pasture and housed in an A-Frame coop that I built according to Harvey Ussery’s plans in his Small-Scale Poultry Flock book, which I highly recommend. I use electric netting around it and that has kept predators at bay. However, the four chickens from our original batch began to fly out every morning and head to the woods to forage. I understand… chickens are jungle fowl, but I need them in the pasture for now.
One morning as I was heading out to work, I noticed the four chickens (two roosters, two hens) were out. I called Morgan and asked her to get the boys (9 and 5) to get them back in. I explicitly said to tell them not to chase the chickens, just walk them back in. She did this, but apparently that message didn’t land on listening ears because we had a chaser and a runner and this alerted the dogs. RIP to one of our roosters. Now, we are down to one rooster and five hens. And… we have a dog that has tasted chicken. I’ve heard a few ways to break a dog that chases chickens. One way includes a rotting chicken, a zip-tie, a collar, and time. The other way includes a shock collar and a remote. My way includes me communicating that these are my chickens not theirs. It’s a presence and a energy kind-of-thing. I’ll try my way first. I’m hopeful.
I’m not feeding the chickens organic feed. I’ve heard bad reviews. I have an automatic waterer and an automatic feeder which is nice. Both are low tech and require re-filling every week or so. I’m also offering oyster shells to ‘em as a free choice. So far they are doing well.
Our newest chickens will arrive in a month or so. Mrs. Betty, a neighbor in our valley, has a hen that “went to sittin’” and she asked if I wanted the “biddies” when they arrived. I said “yes’m, please.” This means we will be adding 10 more chickens to the flock very soon. I assume half will be roosters and in the end we will have added 6 hens to our current flock of 5. With one rooster that will put us at 12 chickens. That’s about right for now.
9/25/25
The second day of our trip to Vermont, I got a message from our farm sitter letting me know something had killed all of our chickens but one. That wasn’t the way I wanted to start our trip. I’ve lost chickens before and I always feel like it is my fault. Which, of course, it is. They need my protection. It is my responsibility. In this case, I did everything I could do and it wasn’t enough.
About a month ago, we received new chickens from Mrs. Betty. She had predator trouble too, and instead of the planned ten chickens we received two roosters and two hens. The hens aren’t laying yet and the roosters are just now beginning their adolescent cock-a-doodle-dooing. They sound pitiful. However, it won’t be long before they work it out and find their true voice. Just in time for a fall stew.
I built a new door for the chicken tractor and made some adjustments to the coop to make it easier to move. For now, I am planning on keeping the chickens in the coop. Eventually I will get the electric netting back out. Before I do, I need to make sure my solar powered charger is charging fully and putting out the right amount of juice to keep predators out.
The Sheep
I’m leaning towards Florida Cracker sheep. This is a heritage breed that is parasite resistant. I want hardy sheep and I want dung beetles.
( I am doing my final edit on this newsletter and I realized that perhaps some/most reading don’t know that the drugs given to livestock to prevent and kill parasites also kill dung beetles. We currently have dung beetles in our little pasture and I want them to stay around. Ecologically, they are are a vital part of the nutrient cycle. And the fact that they are rare also makes me want them around.)
The barn/shed is to be built this fall/winter. After that, fencing. After that… Sheep.
The Woods
9/25/25
I stopped walking regularly in the woods during the early summer. Then late summer rolled around and that is when the woods became full of Turkey mites, or newly hatched ticks. They are small and you can easily miss them until it is too late and you are covered up with them. Unpleasant. Mosquitoes and no-see-ums also get bad in August. It is the season of bites and scratching and sores on your legs. I understand this and so do our kids. My relationship with bug spray and deet is complicated. I’ve used it acutely and strategically, but constantly spraying myself and/or my kids isn’t an option for me.
The weather is changing now and soon the woods will be inviting me back in.
Zone 1
9/25/25
I finished our porch extension. This was a priority because we wanted a place to gather that was out from under our porch but wasn’t in the grass. I’m not a carpenter but know enough and have enough experience to get the job done. I’m pleased with it. This porch connects the house to the terraced garden area. The next project will be the barn for the sheep.