Trees, Trees, Trees - Introducing Silvopasture

Our Story with Silvopasture:

(Silvopasture - Restorative system of integrating trees and pastureland together.)

Three years ago, we implemented a stream buffer along our creek (working with CREP and the Stroud Water Research Center). This means many native trees and shrubs were planted to stabilize and protect the land along the creek. We hired Austin Unruh from Crow and Berry Land Management to do buffer maintenance work. Austin suggested that we may want to consider not just having trees planted along the creek but throughout all the fields. At first Tim and I had the same questions in our minds as most folks do (see FAQ below). Austin continued to educate us about silvopasture little by little, and we began to observe that the grasses in our meadows growing near trees thrived more than anywhere else. We also realized that, being in the Eastern Woodlands, silvopasture is a step towards our natural ecology.

Then 2018 came along, the year of rain. Water pooled in our meadows, nitrogen leached out of our soil, and the grasses stopped growing. It was then we realized that planting trees to stabilize the soil and protect from extreme weather, besides being an interesting idea, may actually be crucial to the continuation of our farm. We became eager for trees to get planted in our fields and told Austin that we would love to host a pilot project, however we did not have any extra time of funds to commit to it. Austin proceeded to find funding through a SARE grant to experiment with some different ypes of tree shelters, Chesapeake Bay Foundation, and PennVest, created design plans with us, and now 4,000 trees are in the process of being planted here on the farm. Two areas have been planted already – we will wait and watch, and plant more in the fall. There is much to learn as we go.

FAQ's

If you are using your fields to graze your cows, won't planting trees create too much shade for the grass to grow well? How can a forest continue to be good grazing land?

Silvopasture is carefully designed with this is mind. Ample sunlight for grass growth is preserved by planting trees that create dappled shade such as Thornless Honey Locust because of their small leaves. Trees are also spaced far enough apart from each other to allow sunlight to come through.

What if you still need access to your fields with equipment for spreading manure, seeding, harvesting hay?

This was a concern we had at the beginning and the reason why we are planting all the trees in straight rows (even though it would be so beautiful to plant them on contour). With measurements for the exact width of the largest machinery we plan to use in the fields, we spaced the rows accordingly, making sure there is turn-around space at the end of each row as well. Despite our careful planning, I'm sure that we'll be learning as we go when we actually spread manure around the trees for the first time. This is, in part, why we are planting the trees in phases.

Why would you do a thing like this? What are the motivations/benefits?

There are layers of benefits. To name a few of the main ones: 1. The cows will have shade and protection from elements in general

2. Habitat for more biodiversity on the farm will be created.

3. The trees promote a more stable environment moderating extreme temperatures and drought, protection during flooding, creating a thriving meadow.

4. Deep nutrients are cycled through the root systems of trees and deposited into the top soil when leaves fall and decompose.

5. We are planting a number of nut and fruit trees that we will be able to eat/sell/process or let pastured pigs eat someday.

6. A number of these trees produce forage that is good for the cows such as the honey locust pods, mulberries and mulberry leaves and willow and poplar leaves.

How do you keep your cows from knocking over the saplings?

Austin has been working on cost-effective, efficient methods for this. The trees are already in tree tubes, so we are wrapping barbed wire around the tube to discourage cows rubbing against them. He has also worked with a small wire cages that go around the tubes.

Resources:

While drawing upon older wisdom, silvopasture is a new “thing” in ecological farming and we are grateful to be at the forefront of this adventure towards deeper restoration.

There are a few resources available about silvopasture at this point including Steve Gabriel’s book, “Silvopasture – a Guide to Managing Grazing Animals, Forage Crops and Trees in a Temperate Farm Ecosystem”.

The Savannah Institute is working to lay the foundation for widespread implementation of all types of agroforestry.

Austin Unruh with Crow and Berry Land Management is an excellent resource and knowing him through our collaboration here at the farm, we highly recommend him to anyone wanting to learn more or get more involved with silvopasture.

Swimming with the Frogs

Tim and I have never felt this hopeful since we arrived here on the farm - full of trash, bones and bare dirt blowing away in the wind seven years ago - through the most bizarre sequence of events. While the restoration and problem solving of the past years have been invigorating, the path has been up hill. With our recent strategies, we are getting a glimpse of a long-term, future relationship with this beautiful land, farm and business and it feels really good.

Now that we really believe we are going to get to stay here, we experience another level of connection as we invest in the various conservation projects here at the farm. And there are plenty. After two plus years of trying to find financial support for the intense flooding issues, we found TeamAg who helped us through the tangle of bureaucracy which led to a grant from PennVest another two years later (in the meantime, 600 native trees/shrubs installed along the creek through CREP and Stroud Water Center). Last spring 2018, the PennVest plan was complete, the money was in, contractors were hired, and then it began to rain - for the rest of the year. The part of the project intended to address the flooding was stalled. We waited as our driveway washed out time and again and small, and large ravines carved themselves out in front of the horse barn, and behind the garden shed…

The time has finally come for the new culvert project (which will address the flooding). The excavator is scheduled to come next week. And while this is what we’ve been waiting for since 2014, and we will finally be able to stop washing soil down the creek, I also know that I will lose my most beloved summer spot. Our swimming hole. This is a truly magical place. It is actually only as deep as the middle of my thigh but is big enough to plunge my whole body into the ice cold spring water. We don’t have air conditioning, we have a swimming hole - just a few steps beyond the orchard - just a few seconds walk from our house. And it is hidden. The Paulownia tree with it’s wide, shady leaves, the Jewel Weed, the Mugwort have all grown up around this small hidden bowl of delight. It is possible to bathe down here without anyone knowing. Here, with the brown and green frogs and the dragonflies and water striders.

Here is where both of our children first found their love of water. Here is where the huge crayfish occasionally pinched our toes, defending their homes as we splashed around. Here is where the racoon visited at night to catch the crayfish, leaving tracks on the wet mud and crayfish shells on the shore. Here’s where the minnows showed up and a water snake made her home for a summer. And the Blue Heron even visited a few times. This is the spot where our youngest son, Niko, paddled his chubby little legs as a six-month-old recklessly trying to plunge himself in while I held him at the edge. This is the spot where our oldest son Eli spent happy hours trying to catch a minnow with his woven fish trap. This is the spot where, today, Eli and the neighbor children used a large plastic tub as a boat to carry them one at a time across the small pool with howls of delight.

Now I stand in the cold water, my heart full of gratefulness and sweet memories. This beautiful little pool is at the mouth of the culvert. When the construction for the new culvert is complete, this spot will no longer be. In my heart, I offer apologies to the small ones who live here, who will need to scramble to find a new home, for the web of stream life that will be disrupted. I am sad to lose this precious hidden oasis even though I know in the long term, in the big picture, this will bring more health to our land, the Creek and the world downstream from us. I know that Fiddle Creek will carve out its new pathway and settle in again, and we will settle into it, and a new swimming hole will be dug, and new trees and plants will grow up around to offer shade, perhaps even the pecan tree that we are waiting to plant. I know in the big picture, this is good - we will be protecting the land and ourselves from the extreme flooding that has washed away raised beds, the former garden and the driveway many times. Even so, there is a wistful feeling...

D2C - Direct To Consumer

We’ve encountered many ups and downs, unexpected turns, drop-offs and surprise blessings since setting off on this adventure called “Fiddle Creek Dairy”. Our goal - to become rooted, find a balanced and simple life, sustaining ourselves from this land while we raise our two children and Frances continues work as a musician…well, it hasn’t been simple. And in the last couple years, we haven’t even been sure if it was possible.

This winter, we wavered many a time, starting to consider what other path we may walk down as a family, what other place we could call home, what other way we could sustain ourselves. On top of the on-going rigorous challenges of farming (which we love, by the way), our small family of four has been faced with multiple health challenges in the past several years. The farm business got put on auto-pilot while we struggled to survive one crisis after another as we waded through recurring thyroid cancer, respiratory issues and the realities of autism spectrum disorder. Now that we have more networks of support in place and are getting our feet on the ground again, our focus has come back to our farm and the on-going question of how we are going to actually make things work financially. We are not ready to give up on this dream that has been so rich in meaning, even while so deeply challenging.

Tim and I have always envisioned creating food for all who value health rather than offering an exclusive product. Because of this, we have been hesitant to charge what it costs to make yoghurt this way - a small scale product where quality practices inform our choices every step of the way. While we believe this is the path into a sustainable future, it is not always efficient or cost effective in the short term. We also realize that to continue living and working here, we need to figure out how to make the finances work.

With a growing sense of urgency, we began working with a friend, and then Kitchen Table Consultants this winter. Many small-scale farmers, like ourselves, choose farming because of our love for working with land and the beautiful transformation of life, not because we are in love with organizing numbers. However, we realized that organizing the numbers is crucial, so we dove in to this new area of growth. It has been surprisingly invigorating to develop a new skill set and finally grasp the kind of analysis we need in order to make informed, clear decisions.

Now we know we need to work towards two major changes. The first change is to reduce our herd size so that we will keep the number of cows here that the land can support right now. The soil was depleted when we moved here, and soil fertility is an ongoing challenge. Because of this, the grass in the pastures is not growing as well as it could. When there is not enough grass in the fields, we end up buying more hay for feed—hay was our number one expense last year. So, with sad farewells, we have sent some of our cows to other farmer-friends.

The other major change we will work towards is selling our products directly to customers - here at the farm, and at farmer’s markets. This way of selling will allow us to have the profit margin necessary to keep the farm going. Since our yoghurt, cheese and frozen meat have a long shelf life, we hope that folks will be able to stock up and the occasional trip to the nearest location will be worth it. At this point, our yoghurt will continue to be available at various stores in Lancaster County as well.

Happily, our model for financial sustainability is about down-sizing rather than expanding. Since restoration of health for ourselves and our land is such a necessary priority right now, it feels right to be strategically scaling down rather than increasing production. With trepidation, hope, joy and a fair amount of fatigue, we step forward into an unknown but bright future. We look forward to connecting with you and providing you with high quality, healthy food.