Leafhopper Farm LLC was created to use domestic animal systems of grazing and foraging to regenerate soil health and fertility. A recent movie that gives great information on why livestock are so crucial to regenerative farming practices is laid out beautifully in “Sacred Cow“. This film explains how domestic stock, when raised in harmony with their surroundings, rather than industrially in crowded pens with overflowing manure pollution. There are also topics in human misdirected diet scemes, degradation of land through industrial practices, and crucially, how we can mend the land, refocus our livestock systems in favor of animal well being, while also acknowledging the cycle of death and rebirth in our world. I’ve cropped a scene where James Rebanks, author of “Pastoral Song“, lays out the argument for rewilding hand in hand with regeneration to support people within the ecological landscape. His farm is an analogue for Leafhopper, and you’ll see some similarities. The sheep are deeply ancestral for many of us, and play a vital role in wet, cool, hilly regions of our world- the marginal land in traditional agricultural thinking.
For EEC Forest Stewardship, the animals of Leafhopper have also been bringing back nature’s neighbors- such as moles, frogs, red wing blackbirds, great blue heron, salmon, and much more. By removing chemical treatments, harsh overgrazing, and monoculture, we’re inviting the wild spaces to return within our modest acreage, which in turn, helps to weave the surrounding wild parts into a stronger framework for nature to thrive. Slowly, the land has responded with more vegetation and resiliency to drought, floods, and future fires. We’ll keep folding the animals in to improve overall productivity, diversity, and adaptation.
A new batch of chicks develop in the incubator, our geese are starting to nest, and we’re still waiting for two more first year ewes to lamb (8 lambs and counting). Dandelion and nettle harvest are on- I got my favorite hand stains this last weekend picking the delightful flowers.
Our young chocolate lily and camas bulbs are also up and running for a second year- and we sent last year’s seed harvests back to Oxbow Farm for germination of more native plants. It’s certainly the time of rebirth here at EEC. With all the new life and energy bursting forth, we give thanks for all the creative force thriving and jiving all around.
As the season continues to unfold, we look forward to new fruit blossoms, more lambs, baby chicks, and the weeds too. Blackberry is set in it’s hedges for the year, and we’ll look for the berries in August. With Spring comes tempests, and we’ve already had our first real hail. Yup, not the little grapple from recent climate change past, but full on pea sized hail now, and probably not for the last time. Enjoy this brief but spectacular footage of this first for us here at EEC Forest Stewardship.
EEC Forest Stewardship 