The chicks have arrived! As for soil building techniques, rotating the chickens in our vegetable cultivation systems is one of our favorites. This is for multiple reasons. 1. They help convert a very common resource in the area, fallen leaves, into rich loamy humus. This has benefited the farm immensely and the year following chickens and green cover crop, creates perfect conditions for our fall carrots and other roots. 2. They are hardy, easy to move around the fields and eat lots of other good stuff including: bugs, weed seeds and our surplus or imperfect produce. 3. They provide a healthy protein source for human consumption. 4. The system helps us create a more natural input loop and prevents the need for purchasing costly short-term fertilizers.
Working out these systems and seeing them bring successful outcomes is a farmer’s great pleasure. We are nothing without healthy soil; straight extraction is not an option. So here’s to these lovely birds and our soil building partnership!
fall carrots grown the year after a chicken and leaves rotation on this soil