Listening to the Needs of the Land
Silvopastures
A silvopasture, simply put, is what you get when you cross a forest and pasture. Silvopastures are designed to integrate grazing space into a diverse “woodland” ecology filled with trees designed to feed livestock (sheep, pigs, chickens), bear crops, and build strong ecosystem diversity. Contour swales create beautiful alleys that carry floodwater irrigation and maintain a positive appearance from neighboring communities as the system establishes itself, growing more robust every year as the trees mature.
Once mature, this woodland will serve as one of the most productive and abundant areas on the farm. By planting a large variety of trees and shrubs that produce marketable crops, the potential for multiple yields and harvests makes this system incredibly abundant.
This variety also helps to mitigate crop loss due to early frosts, which are common throughout the Front Range. Even if some species are hit, diversity ensures many will still fruit. This innovative approach to farming has the potential to rapidly build soil, sequester carbon, and maintain financial viability.
Nitrogen-fixing trees and shrubs will be alternated with fruiting plants to exchange necessary nutrients. These plants are also very nutritious for livestock, as most are leguminous and high in protein. Siberian Pea shrubs, False Indigo shrubs, and Honey Locust trees will be used for this purpose.
Carbon Sequestration
We’ve dreamed of turning our historical farm into a sustainable education and community center for soil regeneration, water retention, and organic gardens. But before we accomplish that, we must lay the groundwork. Literally.
Thus far, we have planted 3,500 trees (our first tree planting event in 2021, with all trees planted in 2 days with the help of 175 volunteers!) in the first silvopasture, then a row of 400 conifers for windbreak protection (from an epic tree planting with Moon Hooch).
April 2023, we will be planting 6,000 more trees in the back 60 acres of the property that will all be dryland planting for soil restoration research through Drylands Agroecology Research (DAR). If you would like to support our ongoing regenerative design work with DAR, consider joining our Adopt-a-Tree program!
What’s Planted?
Of the initial 3,500 trees planted, we had an array of Blue Spruce, Douglas Fur, Black Locust, Sugar Maple, and Autumn Blaze Maple to protect the soil from those 130 mph winds that sweep the plains and offer pasturing animals another source of shade and forage material. A third row of nitrogen-fixing thorny and flowering shrubs will discourage deer and elk. The alleys of the silvopasture will be used for rotational chicken, cattle, and pig grazing.
