New cell grazing paddock for the cows
Every 2 – 3 days our cows are moved into a new paddock, which is smaller than a conventional paddock. The idea is to let them graze intensively in a cell (whilst fertilising that particular patch as well) before moving on. The difference in fertility and growth this system has made is substantial, as now the cows go into paddocks that have grass coming up to their armpits!
Cell grazing electric fence through the high grass
It takes a bit of time and effort to split the existing paddocks into cells with electric fencing before they are put into the cell. Yesterday Iris and myself had to wade through grass taller than us in order to put up the electric fence, but the cows were extremely happy to be put into a new cell this morning!
Happy cows in their new cell!
This morning was an extreme mess in the cow yard, as our cow Anna came on heat and tried to mount all the other cows in the yard. The result was poo trampled everywhere, and our young calf Bambi hiding in with Toffee who is in a separate area. It was challenging to get our 30 kilos worth of manure this morning for the biodigester because of the mess, but we got there! It was Iris’ turn to get splashed by the biodigester manure mix this morning, as she has happily taken over that job. I think everyone doing the biodigester feeding has to be splashed at least once, just to know to drop the manure into the bucket gently… 😉
Tom is coming home from Jordan on Sunday, looking forward to having him back! It has been a challenging couple of weeks for me, and it probably was an interesting few weeks for him. He has had irregular internet access, the flu and was teaching the course, so hence not many blog posts from him, hopefully more next week! Have a great weekend!
©2016 Zaia; permeco.org, incorporating Permaculture Research Institute Sunshine Coast, simplicity, permaculture, self reliance, self sufficiency, sustainability, food, health and homesteading, cell grazing in action at Maungaraeeda on the Sunshine Coast.
Author: Zaia Kendall
Zaia grew up in a family of musicians in Holland, and has a background in top sport (snow skiing) and web development and design. She co-founded the PRI Luganville and PRI Sunshine Coast Inc (now PermEco Inc.) with Tom, and runs the “invisible structures”, like finances, business administration, website design and maintenance, writes articles and records and edits videos. She assists Tom in running the Kendall Permaculture Farm and supervising other volunteers. She is an active member of several musical projects and bands, involved in community music and runs percussion and marimba workshops, is the percussion leader for the Woodford Folk Festival People’s Orchestra and composes as well as plays music. She is passionate about community music and loves seeing people discover that they can play!
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