Dear Curiosity Journal,
This morning Rufus and I met with Crystal Bailey from the Richland County NRCS office. The Natural Resources Conservation Service is an agency of the Department of Agriculture which provides technical and financial assistance to farmers and landowners. The agency was originally formed in 1933 to prevent soil erosion after the dust bowl and facilitates programs to implement improved land management practices. Keewaydin is enrolling in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) which was established by the 2008 Farm Bill for producers who maintain a higher level of environmental stewardship. Our conservation plan will include establishing prairie, planting trees, and improving woodlands. Our hope is to begin implementation in the fall of 2024 with site prep. We discussed seeding a smother crop like cereal rye to suppress the dominant plants (perennial grasses, wild carrot, goldenrod, burdock, thistle). We are considering experimenting with a combination of roller crimping, mowing, and burning to get the prairie established. The standard reset practice is to spray glyphosate and we will NOT be doing that. It may take us longer, but we’re here for the long haul. It may require hard work, but we work hard everyday. We will likely learn through trial and error, but my spirit is intact from living in alignment with my values, and learning from the land is the joy of the journey. Not to mention, RoundUp is totally out of the question for a certified organic farm. When Rufus proposed putting 20 acres into prairie, I had a split reaction, a flare of excitement envisioning 20 acres of wild flowers, followed by a hard slam on the brakes, fully considering the labor of managing the establishment in step with farming and events. I suggested we dial that back a bit and see how we do. However, I still ended the site visit imagining 20 acres of prairie expanding behind the barn down the hillside, past the asparagus and hazelnuts, to the treeline. Dream big, start small. Someday…
~Joy
