Often, people wonder how I can get so much done.
The truth of the matter is... I don't. Okay, sometimes I can accomplish a lot, but many times it is because I am getting help. My current task is to turn almost ten acres of land from a wild forest full of poison ivy and green brier into a permaculture food forest for my family to enjoy for the rest of our lives. So, I'll just squeeze that in right between enjoying my marriage and raising five @little-peppers and creating content to help build up steemit, right?
This is where working smarter, not harder comes in, and why I love animals so much. I'll drop the videos first so the folks who just like to listen and watch don't have to deal any more text.
WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER WITH ANIMALS - VIDEO 1
WORKING SMARTER NOT HARDER WITH ANIMALS - VIDEO 2
Basic Idea and Plan
In the photo above, you can see a big difference between the land on the left and the land on the right. On the right, we see mostly exposed earth and bare branches. On the left, the earth is still covered in green plants. In order to sculpt and design the land that we are purchasing, I've got to remove the undesirable plants from the property. This can be a very time consuming process.
Because I do not want to do a mediocre job using man-power, I am choosing to do it right the first time with animal-power. The main workers on my crew will be goats and hogs. Both @bluerthangreen and myself are on a family adventure called life, and we both desire to be at home with our families providing for most of our own needs ourselves. This is why he picked up some goats a while ago.
Goats are such great animals for this project because they will eat just about everything. While they are munching down on poison ivy, green briers, blackberry bushes and everything else, they are enjoying themselves outdoors. The animals get to have a great time eating whatever they find, and no one has to buy them food. This works out very well. As the goats continue to eat and remove the unwanted plants, they add some fertilizer in their path too!
The hogs work in a similar fashion. A pig can actually live out in a field if people let it. The ones that we picked up (thanks to steemit and @smailer) all came from "pasture raised" families. Except for the periodical grain to keep the hogs coming when called, they lived out in a field and got all their food from what grew there.
Too often pigs are just kept in tiny cages and fed slop or GMO corn. These tiny areas quickly become nothing more than mud and feces, and so the hogs live. Eventually, I want to allow mine to have their own field that is big enough to support them without them destroying it. For now, I'm aiming for areas that are small enough for them to remove all the vegetation and uproot the roots of the plants as well. Once they eat all the greens in an area, I sprinkle some soured corn on the ground near the roots of whatever plants remain. Those hogs will tear up the whole area searching for that last kernel of corn.
Then, once an area is finished, I move them to the next area and let them start all over again. This allows the hogs the opportunity to get plenty of fresh grass, other plants, and sunlight, so they are happy while they "work." The end result is an area that is better than I could have cleaned it up.
Once they worked their way through this section, I used my new STEEM-Powered Chainsaw to chop down whatever other little trees I did not need in the area. I didn't have to trip over any vines or get poison ivy to use the chainsaw now. Soon, I'll let the goats and hogs back in here to finish the job.
If I find a useful plant, like the small Persimmon tree above, I'll keep that ans work it into the landscaping plans. Once the hogs and goats are completely done with an area, I'll cover it in mulch and plant some soil-building plants like Daikon Radish and Comfrey. These plants send down large roots which will help break up the clay and rock. Also, if I leave them in and do not harvest them, they will be adding to the soil as they decompose.
I will then be planting my edible shrubs, trees, and vines. I'll probably build some swales and hugel mounds to help shape the land and retain water, and then begin to establish plants. No matter what, this project will take a lot of work, but if the animals can do the hard stuff, it'll save me a lot of time and effort.
I'm heading down to the land for a bit right now, but I'll be back to catch up on comments later. Steem on!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-working-smarter
Until next time…
Don’t waste your time online, invest it with steemit.com
Hi @papa-pepper. Brilliant! Brilliant! Brilliant!
I love the way that nature always has its own solution to problems if we let it take its course. I feel in this time and era people want everything to happen instantly, our patience is limited to our gain. Your mentality truly astounds me.
Wow! Great, your farm becomes bigger and bigger. Soon you will be independent self-supply farmer! :)
Thank you! Soon we will be getting the goat that you helped donate.
Your pig is doing great too. Hopefully she can become a mama pig!
im so like this animal (sheep)!!!
We may get some of those too.
I need one to eat during the day
Waaaw ,,,, @papa-pepper, a very promising future investment for the future by opening farm land ,,,,,, !!! good luck
Thank you very much for that. It is very exciting for us.
I hope pets in your farm, can multiply by leaps and bounds ,,,,,,, !!
Nice! Sounds like a sweet life
Caught a little typo: "On the right, we see mostly exposed earth and bare branches. On the right, the earth is still covered in green plants." Second one should be left?
Got it. Corrected. Thank you.
Dude your life!! I'm working towards acquiring five acres myself and doing more or less the same thing as you. As a kid, my fondest memories are of visiting my grandparent on the estate in the countryside. There would be fruit trees, animals big and small and lots of nature to enjoy. Best of luck and keep us posted, I'm so jealous of what you are doing right now xD Can't wait to see it when you're done.
I'll keep posting as we continue. Glad you gave similar ideas.
You are doing a bang-up job papa. I love the use of both animals to compliment each-others work and make your life much easier. This is exactly what I was talking about when I said make downtime work for you. These animals have lifted a burden of manual labor from you, to free you up to pursue other projects. Great stuff.
Right now I only have chickens to help me clean up the garden in the spring and just before winter. I just don't have the space for goats and pigs. The animals do a better job of tilling than I can do, and they love the experience that so closely resembles their natural life.
Very, very well said! I agree. We will let them do what they normally would do in a way that benefits us and them.
Wow, one of the best posts I've read on here ... hands down! SO much info to ponder on and learn from. I've been a city boy too long and am starting to look at going back to my roots. (no pun intended so please keep the pigs/goats away - LOL) Following your story will help me plan our next step.
Glad to be inspirational. I wasted too many years just thinking about, it is so good to finally be doing it.
I'll keep documenting this adventure!
Yes, please!
I went to the Animal farm😊...
The Goats and the Hogs were there...
By the light of Steemit, the Bunnies and Chickens were coming down the Earth...... i made that song up from the Original one😄😆
Thank you my friend!
You are very welcome pops😎
Have you ever considered building a Hawg Plow? (dunno what it's called)
for example (your dimensions may vary)
instead of fencing in the field...just cage the hawg...but put him in a moveable cage...say 10' x 20, complete with a water barrel, a feed box (for snacks like some corn)...and a shade. Hawgs get sunburned just like we do.
NO bottom to that cage...(perhaps a roof though...hawgs can climb and jump)...when the hawgs root all the dirt up...movit..a few feet...they have more to plow...depending on how fast they eat and how well they do the job...decided how far and how fast you move the hawg plow.
but wait..there's MORE..
when the hawgs are big enough to go to market (or in your freezer) you don't have to chase em down...they're ALREADY caged...
note: hawgs are smart, can be mean, and STRONG...I'd suggest two inch pipe (or bigger) and hawg panels...welded all together. It NEEDS to be heavy...strong hogs like I said? (move it with a tractor..., a wench...or 'other means'.)
That's great! I did that with chickens in a chicken tractor. Never thought of hogs!
It'd work...and there are a NUMBER of variations. For example..put an axle under the front...put two lugged steel wheels
on each end...put a battery box, a solar panel to charge the batteries...an old automobile(or truck) 12v starter motor connected to the axle by a chain drive. When it's time to move the hawg tractor forward...flip a switch...if you have it geared right..it should move the tractor forward a few feet....and that's all you need...one cage length or less.
then let it sit all day in the sun...recharge the batteries for the next move.
but wait..there's more.
put a weiner hog init at the beginning of the season...a few months later you have a butcher hog inside...if it has a built in 'squeezer' (two moveable panels)...you can immobilze the hog..then shoot it in the head....tie a rope to it's hind legs...lift it up with a portable winch and a protable A-frame...and butcher it on the spot...leave the entrails where they lay...
chikens like em...
then turn it around for the next season....Imagine four or five in formation...slowly creeping across a field....
Hogs'll root up rocks...eat roots...etc...plant grass (or sumthing) behind it..
next season you have a prepared strip of land for cultivation.
Note: goats will eat the branches off trees as HIGH as they can reach..they'll clean out the underbrush. Leave the trees for shade....or not.
Wow, you've really planned that one out. I like it!
I got nothing but time since I retired...even before then when I drove a truck...hour, days, weeks and months...years , decades even...sitting behind the wheel and thinking....
If you build it...please post pictures...
Good job papa- by the way congratulation on new boy baby-pepper..things are good.
Awesome work papa!!!
I'm reminded of the book, The Man Who Planted Trees.
If you're not familiar with it, the gist of the story is that one man, working with nature, can make a huge impact.
Full STEEM ahead.
Great post man. This is inspirational.
Getting her done!!
Wonderful what you are doing. If everyone would plant their own food, famine can be eradicated.
Very nice share...farm looks great!
So far so good. I think that we are heading in the right direction, and steemit has helped a lot.
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looks like you have quite the work load ahead of you! Utilizing the animals how you are ends up acting like a passive work stream. Great idea and very clever
Awesome @papa-pepper! A permaculture Food Forest!! Right on 👍
You're living my dream, happy for you I can't wait to go back home. Most of the times animal are more appreciative than Human being, sad to say but it's true. If only Human being could learn from the animals, the world would be a better place
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Always fun content from you.....but I propose....YOU LET THE INTERNET NAME ONE OF YOUR PIGS?? MOST CLEVER NAME WINS??
Goats will take care of so much vegetation, for sure! It's tough keeping the privet at bay without them! Back when my dad was a kid, folks let their pigs run wild in the Ozark woodlands. Then they hunted them down in the fall after they had fattened up on the acorns. It was tough on the woods, though, and it took a lot of state Forestry Department outreach to get folks to cut back on that. Happy wrangling of all that livestock!
Congratulations @papa-pepper!
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