We cut down tall kanuka for our winter wood and then;
-pulsed chickens through with bales of hay for fertilizer, seed and organic matter.
-made a giant carbon rich compost (after turning once we added a lot of leaf litter from our bush). To bring back a diversity of microbes and fingi.
-planted the drain with native stock fodder, plums and tagasaste for diversity, shade and ramial wood.
-replaced an old blocked drain.
-put on some lime for calcium and to flocculate soil (soils are very high in Magnesium).
-annually we add a compost tea/slurry.
-managed the animals with portable netting so that they were only in a 'paddock' for one day at a time, let the pasture recover for longer, left more residue behind animals.
We still have a way to go but it is so amazing now!!
We have gone from 2 days grazing to 8. Residue, diversity, recovery and worm numbers are all up. It is also very easy to put in standards now.
As life is I cannot wait to see how much more this paddock will improve?
