Preparing A Cow Salad Bar

Good Morning and hello from your farmer,

It's hard to believe that tomorrow (Sunday) is the last day of October. Where has this year gone?

October 16th was our last delivery for October. That left me with two weeks "mostly" open to plant our winter pastures.

And, we have been hard at it.

On the new ground we spread the seed on top of the ground and then bush hogged - bush hogging is also our means of weed control!

For established pastures we first had the cows graze them hard - one of the principles of adaptive grazing is based on the season of growth and the management needed. And, since the growing season for summer pastures was over we had the cows take (graze) more of the plants than usual. This also allows us to have a better planting experience.

For our established pastures I use my No-Till drill. This is an amazing piece of equipment. In one pass the front "turbo" coulters will loosen the soil in the trench where the seed will be dropped. Then, there are a set of double disk openers that will open a small slot where the seed is dropped. This is followed by a covering/packing wheel.

My drill has 15 sets of planters that are spaced 7.5 inches apart. I can plant about 5 acres per hour!

Regenerative advantages for the drill is it does not destroy the soil structure and requires less trips (fuel, etc.) across the pastures.

Here is a picture of our mix. It includes various grasses, vetches and brassicas.

Here is a picture from one of our past seasons.

So, I have about 50 to 60 acres to finish so let me get back to work!

Oh, one other thing!

Customers really liked the idea of our Thanksgiving Chickens. All of the 7# and most of the 6# whole chickens have been spoken for. If you are looking for an alternative to turkey maybe you would consider our pastured raised NON-GMO chickens.

As always, we thank you for rewarding our hard work with your trust and support.