Isn’t it Swale

Isn’t it Swale

Added more earthworks to the ranch. This time I put a swale in as the first phase of my orchard. A swale is basically a ditch on contour.  The idea being that runoff acclimates in the ditch and slowly infiltrates the soil instead of running off...

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Living la Vino Loco

Living la Vino Loco

I’m not a big wine drinker, but when Molly and I visited Fredericksburg this spring I couldn’t help but pick up a few grape vines.  I picked up 2 of each of the three varieties available – Black Spanish, Blanc du Bois, and Champanel. ...

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Disappointing Hay Harvest

Disappointing Hay Harvest

I had a few acres cut for hay this year as the cows weren’t keeping up and it was going to seed. On 25 acres I only got 15 bales. I knew one 10 acre patch would be sparse, but I was expecting 2 bales per acre on the remaining 15 yet I got less...

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Chicken Business

Chicken Business

Last week we started a batch of 100 Cornish Cross broiler (meat) chickens with the intent to raise on pasture and sell at the farmer’s market. We are prototyping the system with 100 birds, but hope to get up to batches of 300, as chicken is...

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