May 2024 Update
Wildflower meadow, rotational grazing tests, and some life updates
Wildflowers
After an amazing first season in the wildflower meadow, this year’s bloom was kinda sad. It looked promising early in the spring, we had more bluebonnets than last year, and there were early signs we might get a lot of lemon mints and indian blankets. But when I checked in early May things didn’t look good. I think maybe the cows ate the wildflowers before they bloomed.
Rotational grazing
We did our first rotational grazing tests in May. After extensive research I settled on buying electric fence equipment from Premier 1 Supplies. Their equipment was recommended by a couple regenerative ranchers on YouTube.
The first test was to set up a little run of electric fencing to let the cows get familiar with it and understand that it’s not to be touched. I cordoned off an area near the driveway. It took three attempts before I was able to run the line without the reel getting tangled. The cows were nearby watching but fortunately were not interested in my activity. I left town for a week and the fence was still standing when I returned.
Next I extended the initial test area to enclose about 0.6 acres which included their water trough. The goal of this test was to ensure they would stay within their fenced boundary. I bought the minimal amount of equipment needed to support this test. If successful I would buy more electric fencing gear, a very long hose, and a smaller more, portable water trough to do proper rotations.
I lured them in with a bucket of treats. While they were eating I set the line and managed to not have any tangles. As soon as they finished eating the treats they turned around and gave me a look like “oh I see what you did there”. The test was a success. I left them in there for 48 hours, they had enough grass to eat, and they were calmly sitting down chilling when I took the fence down.
Personal News
A bit of personal news: I joined Base Power Company on June 3. This all happened very quickly. I cold emailed them on May 10th—a few days after they came out of stealth—and had an offer by May 29th. I wasn’t planning on getting a job, but when the right opportunity comes along you have to take it.
Montanoso has always been a bit of a side project during my retirement, I’ve never worked on it full time. I expect progress and updates to slow, but the project isn’t dead. The property is still available for members of the community, in fact our deck builder is coming out soon for a stay.
Once I’ve settled into a groove with the new job I’d like to start a weekly grazing rotation with the cows. The front prairie can probably be divided into four week-sized paddocks. And then the cows they can spend another week in the backyard.
If you have an idea for an event or project at Montanoso please reach out and we can try to arrange something. I’m also looking for someone who would like to help set up the first paddocks. Especially if you have a truck!
Until next time, Andrew