The Fragrance of Fertility
The Fragrance of Fertility

It’s Molly’s favorite time of the year – chicken manure time. It’s not the fragrant aroma of spring she’s been eager for, but it’s a necessary part of our long-term plan to regenerate our soil.

It’s really hard to describe the smell of being down wind of 100 tons of chicken manure.  It’s an acrid stench that assaults your senses, almost like sticking your tongue on a nine-volt battery. You may be too young to know this sensation but trust me when I say it’s shocking.

Those who joined us on our Farm Tour last year, you might remember the memorable scent that accompanied our hayride. Unfortunately, due to a breakdown in the spreader, we couldn’t distribute the manure before the event. This hiccup is just a glimpse into the realities of farming – real challenges, real smells, and real solutions as we address our soil restoration needs.

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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. The added depth of topsoil and moisture retention is

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Curb Appeal

When I built the pond in front of the house (the one that catches the rainwater overflow) I was left with several yards of spoils.  They had been stacked up for several months and were quite unsightly – with weeds growing in great abundance.  So I finally broke down and rented a dump trailer from

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