A mangy field, a fence, and God.
The start of something new
Written by Jake
Field project starting in 2021. Egg project started in 2024.
We built our house in 2020. We worked tirelessly at carving out a yard, orchard, garden, fencing, and a brand new batch of chickens. As we looked toward unconventional (or lesser known) options for ground cover, we found a native seed supplier and worked closely with him to blend our seed mix. We did not know at the time what we really wanted to accomplish. All we knew was that we wanted low maintenance, native, drought tolerant species that didn’t require wasting well water. Once the lawn was ‘established’ we found that weeds had as good of a time growing as grasses, yarrow, or clover. We, being against several aspects herbicides, refused to spray. Luckily, the chickens came to the rescue!
Out of seemingly randomness, our lawn mix was a hit with our chickens. They foraged through the lawn, eating EVERYTHING. Once they ate the weeds, moisture became more available to the desired plants, slowly turning what once was sterile and dead on the surface into something green, and productive. Productive enough to reduce our feed bill, and kickstart a harmonious cycle.
In the pasture (for lack of a better term) we put in hundreds of hours trying to get grass established. Spraying, mowing, turning, discing, mowing, spraying, harrowing, seeding, spraying again. I was so optimistic of a first year hay crop, we even purchased a swather. But, as the story goes, little to nothing took. Our stand was worthless, laughable! I had pulled from every farmer friend I knew. Everyone’s opinions varied. The only good advise I got was from a church friend who asked, “Have you gotten down on your hands and knees and tried? Would you like me to drive out and get down on my hands and knees with you?”
At the time, I found it comical. I am a 30 year old. I can see the bare dirt from a standing position, why get any closer? It wasn’t until later that I found his true meaning in this statement. So I prayed about it. And here we are. It sparked.
The small victory inside the fence made us think, ‘What if this could happen on a larger scale? Why is the field dead and dying? Is there a way to amend our soil profile? How can we make this work? What is it going to take to make this make sense?’
Trusting in Him has sent us on a different trajectory. Trusting in my own power has shown, time and time again, fruitlessness. Under my own guidance, we would be re-sowing seeds, just to watch them get choked out again. When I was doing it my way, I got Russian thistle and skeleton weed. It’s his turn. I am just a bondservant doing my best not to fight it!
Old Trails Eggs 