Nourishing Bites | Fencepost by Fencepost
Blooms Come in All Shapes and Sizes | According to the Xerces Society, “Figworts are amongst the most prolific nectar producers in the plant world.” In the 1880s it was “mass-planted in parts of the Midwest where beekeepers claimed a single acre could produce 400 to 800 pounds of honey that was prized for being light, clear, and aromatic.” We planted several patches of figwort in our fields and every year they grow taller and bloom longer. It’s a joy to watch the insects drinking their fill!
And now we are over the first few weeks of harvesting, learning to settle into a new rhythm with so many moving pieces and parts all that must be coordinated and come together at the right time.
It feels good to know the food is in the field. That the promises we made are now being kept, stalk by stalk, bunch by bunch, root by root.
The broccoli has come cascading into the packing shed. Just 8 heads ready for picking on that first Sunday and by Friday 58 more. What incredible, beautiful, pride-filled harvests!
We worked overtime to put out more winter squash. It was tough going. Our weary bodies were ready to stop hours before. But we kept at it. We did it. Now we turn our attention to the next thing, and the next and the next.
There are not long periods of rest we set our hopes on at this point in the season, but rather small pockets of respite, moments with a cool glass of water, a half hour catnap, a brief reclining before we go around again, riding this circle of relentlessness, of tenuous hope.
In that respect, this time of year can be daunting. The work simply does not stop, so I have to find ways to manage the audacity of it all.
One way is to adopt a learner’s mindset. I have to be kind to myself and acknowledge how important and courageous it is even just to try.
And in reality, that’s the gist of my farming education. Trying, having things not work or work, paying attention to the outcome, then trying again. Every time I get tired, or feel overwhelmed, I keep on telling myself, it is what I learn from the experience, it is how I respond and react, it is the perspective and experience I glean that matters most- that will help me move through these experiences and challenges.
I keep telling myself: “sometimes the best thing I can hope to harvest is a crate full of experience and the wisdom that is tucked right down in the center of it all.”
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Two weeks ago, we signed a contract with the Natural Resource Conservation Service to install a significant amount of fencing and develop a grazing plan for our land. This has been in the works for several years - a behind the scenes project that ultimately could have a big impact on our farm. It has long been my vision to develop a livestock system that is highly integrated. Animals that would graze in rotation across diverse small paddocks of land, each field or area unique in natural characteristics - plant species, shade and shelter, forage capacity, trees, proximity to water, and mutually beneficial adjacencies.
The dream is to allow animals extremely enriched and diverse living environments that are suited to their needs and the needs of the land at varying times of year. Spatially and temporally, this is a symphony when done right. Animals are in lush, sunny pastures during the grass season (spring). Then move on to areas with dense underbrush and lots of shade in the heat of the summer. In winter, they reside near our barn where they are high and dry and comfortable from the rain and where we can efficiently manage manure to drive our composting processes for the coming seasons of growing produce.
I do not envision just one big field full of the same species of animals, so the complexity of this dream grows when one must consider the various animals and their grazing preferences.
Goats love woody and fibrous plants - they love to reach up to eat. Cows nod their heads to the earth naturally and seek out the grasses and broadleaf plants that provide good food and medicine. Chickens scratch and pigs root and donkeys clip the grass low but also relish the woody stalks of kale and tree branches and even fibrous barley straw.
How all these animals work together and in what order will impact the makeup of the plant species at various stages of growth and thus soil health.
It is a fascinating puzzle.
It will take a lifetime of learning.
I better get started trying.
I am eager and excited to begin to unpack this challenge and to work to create a deeper sense of harmony and connectedness. Concurrently, I am thankful for the opportunity to expand this work of reducing off-farm inputs and closing the loop of fertility.
What does a closed loop system of fertility look like?
Right now, we cut grass on our pasture and carry it from the field to feed our donkeys and to mulch our tomatoes and peppers. Over time, this results in an extraction of nutrients from the pasture. By thoughtfully grazing animals after the grass has regrown, we are returning the fertility we “borrowed.” This feels right and good.
This project is also special to me because I am not pressured by a market return. Our animals may provide side benefits (beautiful fiber, golden yolked eggs), but in my vision, these are like the gifts of good friendship, given freely, without demand or stipulation, and without expectation of continuous, uninterrupted supply.
The animals that reside at the farm first and foremost are not required to create maximum financial value, but rather to create maximum system integrity, a heightened stability, expanded functional diversity and ultimately resilience. (Real and true value!) Healthy soils can store more water, survive hotter, dryer temperatures, and provide greater nutrient density in the forages animals consume.
Every animal has unique talents and special gifts. So ultimately, I see this project as a way to welcome more highly skilled partners into the fold - more beaks and bills and snouts and hooves to help me steward the most precious of assets - the soil we all depend on.
Fencepost by fencepost, the journey continues. ~AJ
Sweet Rewards | A note from my friend Kyla and her mom that came with a plate of Kyla’s Rhubarb Surprise cupcakes. (I introduced Kyla to rhubarb a few weeks back and she went straight to the kitchen to invent. This clever girl put a big pinch of shredded rhubarb into the center of cupcake batter before baking!) Special kudos to Kyla’s cooking class teacher Staci Boehlke, who is driven not to teach kids how to follow a recipe, but to have confidence in the kitchen and by good measure, in this world.