As summer moves closer to autumn it seems there are more native plants in the various riparian buffers we have around the farm. Butterfly weed, jewelweed, wingstem, purpletop, and many other plants are in bloom now. However; there are many invasive, non-native plants in bloom as well. Invasive Species Control...
June in Swoope, Virginia - The Headwaters of the Shenandoah River June is the beginning of the farm year for our cow/calf operation in America's legendary Shenandoah Valley. It's when the bulls go in with our three herds of cows. June is also when we make all the hay to...
Calving Season Begins March 1st Green grass emerges from its brown, dormant cloak of winter. Northern Harriers glide and teeter, close to the ground in search of anything that moves. In the vast grasslands of Swoope, Virginia, the headwaters of the Shenandoah River it’s voles they hunt. American Plum pushes...
Journal entry 11/15/16: Sipping Africa Charlottesville, VA: We ordered a bottle of Bayten, Sauvignon Blanc. It’s from the Constantia wine region in South Africa, the oldest wine region in the Southern Hemisphere. It's Cape Town's wine region, at the Southern tip of the African continent. I raised my glass and...
I had to stop and smell the Marigolds, the native ones in our riparian buffers called Bur Marigolds. As I was putting up a new solar fence charger for one of our livestock exclusion areas, I had to just stop to watch. What froze me in my tracks was the...
We live on a farm in the headwaters of the Shenandoah River - a tributary of the Chesapeake Bay. How cool is that? We started this year’s calving season on March 1st with 122 pregnant beef cows. All of them have calved except nine. Cow #65 and #X6 had twins....
Middle River flows through our land. Brook Trout, Virginia's state fish, used to thrive in it. They migrated or died long ago, environmental refugees from the sediment-laden waters of the river. The river is slowly being restored and one day, we will re-introduce this native fish to the waters that flow...
He said, "Solar panels are only 40 percent efficient." I thought, "Are you kidding, it's free." The sun shines and "Zap", you have electricity, isn't that 100 percent efficient? Well, not so fast smarty pants. The 40 percent rating is true if one thinks about how "they" measure efficiency -...
May might be my favorite month. The energy of spring swells in every living thing. I remain in awe of all the energy. A Catbird sings all night outside our open window. Robins begin their singing at 5:15am. That’s the warm-up for the avian symphony that will last all day....
“I read every one of Bobby’s blog posts. They keep me informed on everything from their cattle farm operation to their best management practices in action. His blog always features relevant information on keeping our waters clean, our soil out of the runoff, and other environmental issues of our time.”
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