Subject: Goats and more. was: Groups gone quiet
From: Ute Bohnsack <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 1999 20:16:03 +0100
Newsgroups: alt.permaculture

Alan Sloan wrote:
> Peter Wibberley <[email-masked]> wrote in message
> news:[email-masked]...
> > Perhaps we need to say something really contraversial to get people to
> > post to the group ..... thinking ..... thinking ??????
> 
> Like anyone who thinks keeping goats  is compatible with keeping vegetation
> in any shape or form is a little bit barmy?  While I loved goats when we had
> them, and still have a soft spot for them, but I can't imagine then fitting
> into any permaculture setup which has anything less than infinite grazing.
> 
[snip]
Not so, says I.
While our pc set-up is far from having taken on a life of its own we have made
*some* progress over the 5 years we've been here. We have 10.000 sqm of which
2.000 sqm and a small shed are solely devoted to our goats, i.e. 3 females +
offspring (that's 2.5 livestock units/hectare). Like Alan, we have a soft spot
for them since they kind of 'happened to us' (long story) 7 years ago and they
provide us with milk, some cheese and meat. We use paddocks (rotational grazing)
combined with strip grazing and high-voltage mains electric fencing. We buy in
about 500kg of grain/year for them but will substitute some of that with farm
grown mangels in the future. Also we have to buy in some winter hay every year
but if we get more organised there won't be a need for that (we have as yet
unused grassland). We've planted lots of willow and ash which in a few years
will provide additional nutrition (cut and thrown over the fence into their
paddocks; the sticks that remain can later be used for kindling). The dung from
their shed has been an invaluable source of nutrients for the garden. Obviously
constraining goats is the most difficult part, but the system we use has worked
well for us with few breakouts over the years and very little damage to
trees/shrubs (cows wandering in from the road, the neighbour's goats and humans
have in fact done more damage). Our soft fruit patch (forest garden style) is
right beside the goat patch. Our biggest problem are power outages that last for
more than a day (goats are *smart*!). 

Since this is my first posting to *this* newsgroup I thought I'd let you what
else we do. Abovementioned 200sqm soft fruit patch begins to yield decently this
year (black and red currants, gooseberries, worcesterberries, raspberries,
tummelberries, jostas, hazelnuts, Rosa rugosa, damsons, comfrey, horseradish,
fuchsias, some herbs and a plum). There's an apple patch with added sea
buckthorn, Gleditsia, elderberry and comfrey into which our chickens will go.
Muscovy ducks are planned, as is a reedbed system (Hi, Heather...! We gotta
talk...). There are 4 veg patches in different locations and on different soil
types plus a polytunnel. They yield pretty much all our veg, herbs and flowers.
We try to grow as many heirlooms as possible and have begun to save seed, too. A
60m long 3-row hedge for wild fruit, nuts and firewood (and bees and birds...)
is planned for planting next winter if we get the £££ for the plants. Edible
rowans already form the backbone of that. A blueberry patch is 'under
construction' with 5 varieties ready to be propagated in the tunnel and a patch
of meadow rotting away under the neighbour's old silage plastic. A small woodlot
along the drive was planted by the previous owner and this spring we planted the
edge and any open spaces with currants, worcesterberries, filberts, crabapples,
medlars a.o. Apples will line the other side of the drive.
While self-sufficiency is our first priority we have a ready outlet for eggs, a
buyer interested in soft fruit and I've begun to sell vegetable and flower
'plugs' locally which might cover the cost of next years seeds.

So much for now. Looking forward to 'virtually' meeting you all
(alt.permaculture is new with our ISP).

Ute

-- 
Dipl.-Ing. TU Landschafts- und Freiraumplanung
Ute Bohnsack
Sailchearnach
Clogher
Kilfenora
Co. Clare
Ireland
mailto:[email-masked]
EN-DE-EN Naturschutz, Landschaftsplanung, Landwirtschaft
http://www.atril.com/bin/directory.dll/1546