Grass

Most of Lake Road Farm is in pasture. It’s our main crop, but it’s harvested by chickens, goats, and cows – not us. In turn, it becomes golden yolks and rich milk for our kitchens and dinner tables.

The grasses, legumes, forbs and browses feed the livestock; the livestock feeds them. Every cow pie is an oasis in the pasture, full of nutrients and moisture. They feed the grass, harbor microbes, and shelter and feed insects. Cow manure improves the soil underfoot by depositing sequestered carbon and soluble nitrogen right where it’s needed: on the grass.

Likewise, chickens renew the pasture by nibbling tender leaves and hunting through it for bugs. Grain, which is their main feed, is reinvested in the pasture as manure.

In the past, we’ve kept a clean-up crew of goats. They tended our fence lines and cut back underbrush while fertilizing the ground, but we don’t currently have goats while we focus on starting the herdshare.