Pasture Biodiversity

Today I started rearranging some fencing to move the ewes and lambs up to the top of the hill on the west side of the pasture and get the rams off the pasture around their barn so I can mow it. As I walked around on the hilltop, I was amazed at the biodiversity in our pasture here.

The hilltop is almost a completely different ecosystem from the bottomland even though the two areas are separated by only a few hundred feet. The low ground is very thick grass and white clover. It's been grazed twice and mowed once and will be ready to graze again in less than two weeks. As you go up the hill, this mix of grasses and white clover continues but it thins out quite a bit and is much slower growing. The hilltop is a riot of grasses (some the same as and some different from the lower area), clovers, wildflowers, herbs and birdsoot trefoil. The number of different plants in a small area is incredible. While the grass in the lower area would be extremely ripe if it hadn't been grazed yet, this hilltop grass is just now coming on strong. The red clover is just starting to bloom.

I'm looking forward to moving the sheep up there this week. It's cool to have such a diverse pasture on a small farm. The early cool-season grasses in the lower part provide much early grazing provided that area is properly managed. Then when the weather warms up and the cool-season grasses slow down in growth, the high protein clovers and the herbs with their medicinal properties are perfect for summer grazing.

As an aside, the promised post on corn-based ethanol is going to have to wait. I don't have the patience to look up sources on my 26.4 kbps dial-up connection at home and I just don't have time to do it at work on our high speed connection.

And on a personal note, we're headed to the Childrens Hospital tomorrow with our youngest son Nick. Nick was born in 2002 with the most severe form of spina bifida, myelomeningecele, and hydrocephalus. He is truly blessed in that he runs and jumps and climbs just like a four year old should. (Actually, he's quite the daredevil so he probably jumps and climbs in ways that four year olds shouldn't.) However he does have a somewhat abnormally functioning bladder. The main purpose of our clinic appointment tomorrow is to try to discern whether his difficulties with toilet training have a physical cause or come down to his stubbornness. Your thoughts and prayers are appreciated.