USARAAI SUMMIT 2023 Part 4
Part 4
Russ Wilson, of Wilson Land and Cattle, has been a regular at the Summits from the beginning in 2019, and he was back this year. He started off with a talk on beyond the garden dollars and saving money by saving your own seeds. His family is really into seed collecting and starting. They’re also into fruit tree grafting. Russ gave an interesting comparative on purchased vs. growing your own plants. Soil health is key when planting your seedlings, and good amendments and mulch is part of the success.
With his next presentation he covered the food preservation revolution, or growing and canning what you grow. He said that 90% of the food his family eats is produced on their farm. He talked about the benefits of being self-sufficient and knowing where your food comes from. Along with that he spoke on food poisoning from preservation and how to prevent it, and the several ways you can preserve your food.
His final presentation was silvopasture on a shoestring, or how to do it and not break the bank. Russ has only embraced silvopasture in the last 5 years. Silvopasture is deliberate integration of animals into the trees/woods. There are many benefits for this kind of pasturing, among them is biodiversity and improved soil health. It is also good for increased productivity, better timber, and lower input costs, and it can help create several income streams. He’s able to extend his grazing season because of the natural plant matter and seeds and nuts that his animals eat.
Russ has always had a dream of having a tree nursery and he’s working on it! He told the process by which he does his tree seeding and grafting, with pictures of the methods and tools he uses. I think it’s so great that his kids are as much into the farm as he and his wife! You’ll find them on YouTube as well.
Ryan Kolodziej was with us again this year, and he was excited to talk about diversity on the farm. He said when he and his wife were young, they made a lot of mistakes because they got in too big a hurry. As they’ve gotten older, they realize that slower and deliberate will do it better, and diversifying is so important. If there’s no diversity, and you’ve put everything into one basket, you can lose it all with one event, because you didn’t see it coming. He reminded us that you must be sensitive to your own property because what works for one farmer may not work for another. He showed pictures of his farm and how it’s changed since 2015. He said when they started it was hard to be disciplined in what they really needed to grow, and they were all over the place. Now, 20 years later, they are trying to be sensitive to the market.
One of his surprise diversities was rhubarb. He had no idea that there was a great market for it, and now they grow and sell many pounds a year. Also, a food co-op that helps small farmers distribute their produce came into their lives, and they’re selling rhubarb by the pallet. Raspberries, maple syrup and mushrooms are other cash crops. They’ve moved into livestock by way of raising pigs, cattle, and Muscovy ducks. Then they bought a mobile sawmill, and they rented it out by the week.
His week wrapped up with mimicking nature’s seasonal harvest. Ryan gave examples of nature’s ques like when it’s the right time to draw maple sap, or when the fish run, and so many other things we look to as natural signs. We need to pay attention. If you’re doing different things in your farming, you need to know when the season will be right for whatever that is. If you have animals, and you want to have babies, you need to know when the weather will be the best for this situation. He says the best months for having baby pigs are December and January because the temperature is consistent, and the ground is frozen, not muddy. Ryan and DeAnn are on the right track for sure!
