Writings of a would-be smallholder in rural Monmouthshire....

Ancient David Brown Tractor, Ben - Head of Sales!, The Great Oak, Monmouthshire Tymawr Farm

Ancient David Brown Tractor, Ben - Head of Sales!, The Great Oak, Monmouthshire Tymawr Farm

Monday, 16 July 2012

The Land #2 - "Quarter Acre Farm"

Thinking about how we will rehabilitate the permanent pasture, and get some decent fertility and condition into it, I've been developing an idea called 'Quarter Acre Farm'.  The idea is a rotation which includes:
Pigs: To plough up, manure to add fertility and texture, and to uproot and remove perennial weeds.
A 3 Year Ley: Rich in red clover to fix nitrogen to improve fertility and provide grazing for the poultry.
Chickens: To manure, eat flies and larvae, and graze the ley.
Geese: As chickens.
Vegetables: Obviously to provide vegetables (!), but also to ensure that each section of land gets a deep cultivation during the rotation.

The table below gives a bit more detail on each element:
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Pigs3 Pigs for 5 months + green manure 7 months
Vegetables4 plots of 50m^2 each, solanceae, brassicas, legumes, little polytunnel
GrassRye & Red Clover, 3 year Ley Mix
Grass & Chickens4 plots of 25m^2 each, 7 Light sussex hybrids moved every 2 days.
Plus, same system, batches of free range suitable broilers.
Grass & Geese2 or 3 Embden geese?  Construct a pond from car tyres and a pond liner?

The rotation would run as shown below.  Ideally, the idea is that the animals do some of the work, in the place where the work is needed (no wheelbarrowing of pig manure!):
20132014201520162017
PigsVegGrassChickensGeese
VegGrassChickensGeesePigs
GrassChickensGeesePigsVeg
ChickensGeesePigsVegGrass
GeesePigsVegGrassChickens

We'll trial this in one of the worst fields starting later this year, and if successful, I would like to expand the size of each 'strip' and try to get a quarter or so of the land into this kind of cultivation at any one time (the rest probably being strip-grazed).  A key element which we will address either before or in parallel with the above is drainage!

The aim is to create productive, weed free, super-nutritious, healthy farmland that we can be proud of!  I'm sure the plan will change many times as we learn and adapt, but this is our starting point!

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