When you’re a small or part-time operator and you compare yourself to a social media influencer or a giant in any given field, it is tempting feel substandard. The more educated we get at Bird’s Nest Garden Farm, the more we realize what we’re not doing as ideally as possible. The accusations drip down: we’re not organic enough; we’re not regenerative (beyond sustainable) enough; we don’t collaborate or host enough; we don’t move our livestock frequently enough within our rotational grazing system.
One self-administered accusation goes like this: “You didn’t plant the woody plants thickly enough within your baby tree/pasture (“silvopasture”) system. And this is actually technically true. But occasionally, something you’ve done right smacks you in the face.
I found a red oak seedling in the current livestock pasture paddock. There are no red oaks on our property or immediate environment that we did not plant.
Where is the closest possible parent red oak to this seedling?
Planted over 25 years ago, the parent oaks soar at the far right edge of the forest in the background of the picture above.
Wildlife are co-creating the biodiverse treed savanna pasture we seek.
Win-win.