By Krysta Post At Gwenyn Hill the arrival of Spring is marked by the return of Sandhill Cranes and Red Winged Blackbirds perching on the remains of last year’s prairie blooms. Along Bryn Drive, patches of Mayapple and the ephemeral White Trillium flourish in sunlight before the tree canopy develops overhead. Dormant crops like garlic...
The Under-Appreciated Red Devon
By Joshua Mechaelsen At Gwenyn Hill Farm, livestock are a crucial part of our farm’s ecosystem. We strive to raise meat, milk, eggs, and fiber in a way that contributes to the biodiversity and health of our soils, pastures, woods, and fields. In addition to providing delicious and nutritious beef for our customers, our herd...
Sustainability at Gwenyn Hill Farm
August 31, 2021 By Ryan Heinen When asked what is the greatest skill I have for being a farmer, I thought about my experience grazing cows, growing organic crops, and knowledge gained during my dairy grazing apprenticeship. These are important and necessary skills for being a good farmer. However, I feel the greatest is my...
Gwenyn Hill’s Native Prairie; More than a Pretty Face
August 13, 2021 By Linda Halley In 2019, Ryan Heinen, Gwenyn Hill’s Land and Livestock Manager, seeded ten acres of native grasses and forbs, replacing a relatively poor stand of alfalfa hay. Most of the field lies along Bryn Drive and is very visible from the road. For two years it looked rough and ratty....
Blending Conservation & Agriculture
September 24, 2019 By Linda Halley Agriculture and conservation are often seen as two sides of the same coin of land and resource management. They seem to end up on opposite sides of the debate table when it comes to soil, water, land use, and wildlife. Here at Gwenyn Hill Farm we see the choice...
The Scent of Spring
By Linda Halley | It’s going to happen any day now. You’re going to go outside and smell spring. It smells like life itself, awakening after a long slumber. Truly, it is. Microscopic life in the soil is stirring. The biology of organisms eating, digesting, excreting and repeating is the scent of spring. Breathe it in....
Links of Interest
by Linda Halley | It was nearly a year ago when Gwenyn Hill posted its first blog. It felt a little like speaking up into the night sky. How far would the words travel? Would anyone hear (or read) them? Nevertheless, we posted, and committed to continue posting regularly. Some posts are of the mundane variety,...
Real Horse Power
by Ryan Heinen, Land and Livestock Manager | The last time a team of draft horses worked this land was 1958. That’s the year that the Williams family built the new dairy barn. Lloyd Williams told me that this new barn did not include stalls for horses, and so the team was sold. My grandfather had...
Our Ecological Restoration Herd
by Ryan Heinen, Land and Livestock Manager | As I write this, it’s a beautiful cool and sunny fall morning on Gwenyn Hill Farm. It’s my favorite time of year. I was out in the pastures rotating the beef cattle herd to a new paddock. I move them every day, and today I again noticed the...
Winged Allies
By Linda Halley | From the backyard of the farmhouse you can spot an amazing number of our farm’s wild allies, without which it would be hard to farm organically. Each has its role to play. The monarchs are bobbing in pairs over the tall, shaggy weeds, among them the monarch-favorite, milkweed. By fall, the...
Gwenyn Is Welsh for Honeybee
By Linda Halley | Thursday, April 12, after the most spring-like afternoon of the season, we were all a little giddy. There was a spring in my step and bird song in the air. The farm team had just finished marking the rows for the new orchard and were heading home. As I packed my...