What's been happening at Rosa's Ridge?

Back in summer this year, it's hard to believe there wasn't any green grass at Rosa's Ridge - like most areas in our south west that aren't under irrigation. Steph and Sam were a bit nervous watching the pigs turn over the thick layer of grass mulch that the goats had lain down, as one of the key principles of regenerative agriculture is keeping the soil covered year round. This area has recovered very well, and interestingly there is much less wild radish here now, so perhaps the pigs were doing some strategic weed control!

This photo above shows the great impact the Rosa's Ridge chickens are having on their pasture. To the right is where the chickens haven't moved over yet, and to the left is the area that has recovered after the chickens have foraged and grazed over it. You can see that there is a lot more new growth, less standing dry grass from the previous season, and more grasses coming back. This is the wonderful power of rotating animals over pasture with quick grazing times, and long recovery periods - we are witnessing soil being rebuilt!

Here's a close up of the density in the pasture at Rosa's Ridge, after a long recovery once the chickens have passed over it. Steph says you can't really appreciate the density of the grass until you're out there and walking through it! The paddocks have that beautiful squishy sponginess underfoot, which means that the plants are getting their roots deep into the soil, and helping the soil to act like a sponge for water and nutrients.

No chicken farm is complete without a farm dog! Lola enjoying the squishy pasture in the sun at Rosa's Ridge