For the animals, summer is a great time to find a shady spot and enjoy the high life. From lush grazing to warm afternoon breezes, these gals are thriving, even with summer heat. Katahdins are highly adaptable to temperature, growing a wool coat in winter to protect them from snow and ice, to shedding the layer in late spring and spending time in the shade during the hottest part of the day. When there is a heat advisory, I do take extra time to check everyone and monitor condition. Extra water is on hand from the cisterns, and the sheep tend to stay under cover when they need to cool down. The flock has just come back up to the barn for some focus grazing around the orchard. It’s amazing how efficiently these grazers and browsers have trimmed the landscape and reset pastures to grow a fresh crop of new forbs and flowers, grasses and more. The second graze will be more sparing, to account for heat and no rain.
This is the crucial management of stock to keep the land productive. You’ll often see paddocks of unkempt animals standing in mud or a dust bowl. It’s a “sacrifice area” or overgrazed space that has no time to recover. Even my pasture by the barn has a compacted area, about 8×8′, by the gate, where compaction from heavy use has made a bare patch in the clover and plantain. But all pastures need amending from time to time, from minerals to reseeding, care of the land is crucial to having healthy place and animals. Keeping the numbers of livestock in balance with what the land can support is also important. In many poorly managed systems, too many animals is a usual cause.
In summer, our rams are pulled from the ewes to prevent a second wave of lambs in the fall. Most sheep come into estrus twice a year. Industrial farms will make sure their ewes are pregnant both cycles for optimal production. The inputs to keep these ewes in lamb are impossible for a small farm like Leafhopper to justify or afford. It would also put a stress on the land, and force us to keep the ewes in the barn too often, preventing them a healthy quality of life. Giving the ewes the summer to ween their lambs naturally, prevents undo stress, and then lets the gals graze, put on the needed weight for winter, and grow healthy lambs. Rams will be reintroduced in late fall to cover the ewes in time for spring babes. These seasonal cycles are important signals in land capacity and animal care. Industrial models ignore these rhythms, and exploit animals at the cost of quality of life. It is expensive to buy locally grown food, and most people cannot afford the luxury- but those who can and do are making a huge difference ecologically, and economically, by supporting local farms and work done by neighbors to bring healthy, mindful food to table.
While the sheep rest, I take a moment to check breathing, temperatures, and body condition in the flock, before refilling water troughs, and moving fence to create new browsing avenues. We just finished a massive 90F week, and the cooler 80s offers more outside work time. Orchard irrigation is also starting, and the hourly hose moves give me a chance to visit each tree and plan the logistics of a work party to re-mulch the fruit trees next weekend. Many hands make light work of the wheelbarrow loads of mulch and card-boarding, which will skirt the trunk and protect the roots. Fruit trees prefer a clear field to stretch their roots into. Grass hinders that growth and takes most of the water and nutrients the tree needs for good fruit production and growth. Establishing other plant companions is on the list of things to do, but orchard maintenance at EEC takes a back seat to my work with the animals. It will be good to get a team on site for a day of mulching, which will prep the beds for fall understory establishment- if I get to it this year.
Other trees that have been growing well on their own are the many planted as part of EEC’s CREP project. I’m standing with this western red cedar, now over 5′ high. It’s established, and by next fall, I’ll be removing most of the nets protecting these young trees from browsing and rub attacks by eager blacktail bucks looking to carve out territory for the fall rut. Most of the trees and shrubs are now well established and thriving in our most extensive riparian area at Leafhopper Farm. This conservation corridor is supported by USDA, and offers a great representation of how restoration farming works here at EEC Forest Stewardship. The sensitive wetland areas around our salmon stream were replanted and fenced to keep livestock out, including a setback well beyond State requirements of 25′. Federal water protection no longer extends to side streams and wetlands away from coast or river shoreline. Thankfully, Washington State still sees these smaller waterways as crucial to protecting our future on this planet, and see to minimum setbacks, though on this creek, there are countless infringements to the law with construction, water rerouting, grey water runoff, and much more. Summer is the time county inspectors take a walk up some of the creeks and small wetlands to check setbacks, and little is done to enforce anything- short of gross negligence, which I assume would be some kind of catastrophic spill or massive damming.
The creek is low, but still flowing. In August, I plan to take down some of the maple branches, as the tree is dying, and some of the wood would make good firewood and kindling for next winter. To be clear, the main trunks and most of the wood will stay in the creek as habitat, but some of the larger branched will need to be cleared off the bridge and out of the way of the road before the rains return. The picture above shows how the tangle of branches is also creating great shade on the water below. But as the wood begins to decay, it will create a large mesh block on the creeks flow, which might cause problems with flow during floods. Larger logs stay set in the gravel bank, but branches clog up under the bridge and could cause problems down stream if not removed. Keeping a balance between nature and human needs is not always easy, I’ll take less, rather than more, and try to time the cutting all on one day to prevent drawn out disruption of the sensitive space. Chainsaws and the truck bed will make light work of this project- with a few extra hands. It’s another group activity we’ll execute next month with help on hand.
As nature builds her green castles and wild landscapes around EEC, so much growth and abundance springs forth. Gratitude to all who support this small forest farm in The Central Cascades. Our production continues to flourish with the support of neighbors, friends, and family who share our vision of restorative action in our work for the land that gives all we need to thrive on this earth. May the lands inspire all to plant, water, and nurture better dreams, lives, and community. Cool shade and lazy days in the long summer light.
EEC Forest Stewardship 