Mulch, mulch, beautiful mulch. Especially beautiful when you can get it delivered free to your farm gate and use it for building soil in your fields and gardens.
When we first moved to this little farm a few months ago, we knew we had a lot of work to do in reclaiming pastures. How do you rebuild a farm where the fields have been pillaged and neglected for years? They are full of weeds, compacted, and overgrazed. Add to that a minimal to non existent budget and it can all feel very limiting and hard.
Surely I need money to fix this problem!? But what if the answer was really very simple, didn’t cost a thing and just required some sweat equity and a little patience?
Building Soil with Free Carbon – Joel Salatin Advice
We are banking the future fertility of our little farm on the belief that we can indeed begin rebuilding the soil and pastures with free resources found on or around the farm. Neither my husband or I have experience in pasture management so we are relying on the advice of mentors who have gone before us. People like Joel Salatin, author of Polyface Micro (among many other books) who said, “The engine that drives fertility is carbon”.
“Nature builds soil without tillage, with carbon, on top of the ground. Grass falls on top of the ground. Leaves fall on top of the ground. As my friend Bill Wolf, founder of Necessary Trading Company in the earliest days of the organic movement used to say, “earthworms like to be fed on top of their head.” In other words, you don’t have to till something into the soil in order for it to be useful to the soil. On top is just fine; the worms and other critters like dung beetles will bring it downstairs where micro-organisms can digest it.” Polyface Micro, pg 136.
Rotational Grazing to Build Soil
He goes on to explain the importance of rotational grazing and the use of multispeciation over the land in combination with compost to complete the healing work that is needed. What an encouragement to hear that we don’t need buckets of cash to pay for expensive amendments and soil samples!
When speaking of his families farm when they first bought it in 1961, Joel said, “But out of extreme crisis comes extreme innovation. Fortunately, our family didn’t have money. The combination of desperation and destitution incubated creativity… By combining controlled grazing with composting and then eventually poultry, the soil ever so slowly began to respond.” (pg. 137)
This was was music to my ears! There is hope. We can begin immediately to apply the carbon. Then in time, as we can afford to add animals and carefully rotationally graze them through the property, the soil will begin to heal.
Building Soil with Free Mulch
The first and biggest source for us has been the mulch. Having read a number of Joel’s books we knew we would be needing carbon to begin the work of rebuilding the soil.
One day while out driving my husband saw a tree lopping company working on the side of the road. He pulled over and asked them what they were going to do with all the mulch. The men told him they would haul it to the dump where they had to pay to leave it. He said he would be happy for them to dump it on our property for free. It was a win win situation.
For weeks they would pull in every couple of days and dump another load or two. Eventually we had to ask them to stop coming because we had more than enough mulch for our needs.
Building Soil with Leaves
The second free source of carbon we found on our farm was leaves. As autumn drew on the leaves began to fall and we noticed a thick covering of leaf matter on the ground.
Now we could leave it there and it would slowly decay and act as mulch for the trees, slowly breaking down as God designed it to feed the soil below. In some places we did that. But we also chose to strategically pick some places to rake the leaves into piles and move it to areas where we particularly wanted a covering of carbon.
We added dried leaves to the compost bays, spread it in the spring garden plot where the chickens are, and used it to cover bare ground where grass wasn’t growing.
Using Manure and Ash to Rebuild Soil
The third free resource we found extremely useful in building our soil, came from a nearby farm. When we first moved to the farm, we made a point of trying to meet and get to know both our immediate neighbors, and any local farmers who were in the regenerative ag space.
Through word of mouth, and attending local farmers markets, we discovered that we had an organic farm just down the road from us. They are doing much of what we would love to do and also happen to be kind, friendly people who believe in the value of community.
After putting the word out that we were looking for a source of organic manure for our farm, they generously offered us some. We went for a visit and came home with a trailer full of both aged manure and a mix of topsoil and ash from a burn pile they had.
It was a bonanza! A large load of mineral rich organic matter for building soil in our gardens and compost! You’ve never seen two people more excited over a trailer full of manure 🙂
Rebuilding the Soil with Free Resources
Even though we have pretty neglected, run down pastures, we are very hopeful. Confident at the prospect of regenerating the soil and feeding life back into the land with free organic matter that we have sourced either on or near our farm. It is such an encouraging thought that nature wants to work with us to grow things. The land wants to be productive. As good stewards, we can nurture and provide the soil what it needs to heal and replenish itself. Building soil can be done without great expense. Creation was made to flourish if only we feed it well.
Read about Starting a Garden From Scratch using Free Resources HERE
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