Perma Pastures Farm
Billy from Perma Pastures farm and Youtube Community. Link to youtube channel -> Perma Pastures Farm on Youtube.
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Small scale Intense grazing and permaculture
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Small scale Intense grazing and permaculture
First off I’m a newbie here so please be patient with this old lady (74) Can’t remember when in my life I wasn’t at least at thinking about being prepared and self sustaining. Unfortunately it has just been the last few years I’ve really been able to.
Billy I love watching your channel and have been reading The Independent Farmstead. Thanks for the recommendation.
Ok down to brass tacks of this. I live in Hatfield AR and yes we have some McCoys here lol. I have a shy acre but may be able to utilize a little more Right now I have some raised beds and the start of what I desire to be a community garden. I have a flock of 24 chickens that I am slowly building up by incubating a few at a time so they range from chicks to old timers. I would love to have a couple of milk goats, small ones and just borrow a buck for breeding, and be able to feed a pig out each summer for meat.
My ground is a gentle slope to the north covered in a decent lawn grass. Thinking I might can graze goats followed by chickens and then pigs moving every day or two at the least then broadcasting a good grass for the region. I am open to any and all advise and thank everyone in advance.
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7 Replies
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I’m a newbie myself to an extent and working with much more land. My concerns would be feeding the goats in the winter. A shy acre might be doable depending on the footprint of gardens, your home etc. Others with more experience could help you there. I just wonder about feeding everything when there’s snow on the ground or the grass is dormant. My work around would be to harvest tree hay from elsewhere be it from a knowing neighbor or side road at night. Perhaps even grow a small bed of comfrey that you could harvest and dry through spring, summer and into fall then use it as feed. As for pigs they can be confined to a small space and fed either your scraps or scraps from elsewhere. Provided you secure the scraps the issues would be one.. the smaller the space is the messier it will be. A pig in a confined space will create a mud hole and wallow in it’s own waste if it doesn’t have room. Two.. the smaller the space the more likely you’ll hope it’s upwind from everywhere because it will smell. On that small piece of land you can do a lot it’s just knowing the boundaries and methods that will work. Another option may be to raise alternative meat like other fowl or rabbits. Then find someone nearby willing to barter for rabbit meat, duck, turkey, quail or their eggs. You could also consider a specialty crop like hot peppers, mushrooms or something else that might be of value for bartering. Maybe you could grow cucumbers and make a mean bread & butter pickle. I’m 5 hours from you but I’d almost drive over for that lol.
Know this much….. you can do everything you need to do in that space to make yourself self-sufficient. It may not include wants but it can cover needs!
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Thank you for good advice to ponder. I know it will be a challenge but I am willing to take it own. I’m caregiver for a sister with cognitive impairment (that’s what we call it lol) and am determined to do my bestThank you for good advice to ponder. I know it will be a challenge but I am willing to take it own. I’m caregiver for a sister with cognitive impairment (that’s what we call it lol) and am determined to do my best
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Thank you for good advice to ponder. I know it will be a challenge but I am willing to take it own. I’m caregiver for a sister with cognitive impairment (that’s what we call it lol) and am determined to do my best
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I’ve no doubt that you will accomplish much!
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I heard Billy on the Pimp cast the other day and he got me brain storming about hay. It is nowhere to be found around here and winter is coming. We don’t get much snow in central Oklahoma, but it does get too cold to have much of anything for my goats to graze, so we get hay. Not this year. I have to think about other things we can use.
We grew a 20×20 bed of corn to supplement the chicken feed. The stalks may supplement the goats. I have trees, oak, elm, mulberry and willow. I also have access to land that my goats graze on at times that have johnson grass, and various pasture weeds. I will try to cut/weed eat as much as I can gather and make corn/tree limb/weed hay. Anyone have experience with this ?
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Never done this yet but sounds like it might be workable if you had enough put by. I know people in Texas who, during severe drought, felled a tree a day to keep their cattle fed when there was just no grass, much less even hay to be found. I do want to mention though that you have to know what you are doing with johnson grass if you plan to feed it out – Put up wrong it can kill your animals. Maybe ask some experienced hay people to guide you along. Might want to put some calcium bentonite clay in your pantry in case any of what you come up with has any bad effects on your goats’ rumens. It can save their lives. Best wishes to you!
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Yes. I need to be aware of what I am getting. Forgot about dried Johnson grass. Thank you for the tip about Bentonite Clay.
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