Today’s interview was one that I was looking forward to for a long time and tried my best to include in the regenerative farming series earlier this year, but as luck would have it, our schedules didn’t match up in time to include it. At least I get to put it out before the end of this year and before I wrap up Abundant Edge as a show and move to the new format, because this is a discussion that’s really worth listening to in its complete form. 

Steve Gabriel, author, along with Ken Mudge, of Farming the Woods, and his new volume titled Silvopasture is an ecologist, educator, and a forest farmer who has lived most of his life in the Finger Lakes region of New York. His personal mission is to reconnect people of all ages with the natural world and to provide the tools for good management of forests and other landscapes. He currently splits his time between working for the Cornell Small Farms Program, and developing the farm he runs with his wife Elizabeth, called Wellspring Forest Farm, which produces shiitake mushrooms, duck eggs, pastured lamb, nursery trees, and maple syrup.

In today’s interview we focus on Silvopasture, and Steve explains the main components, and benefits of this historic land management practice. We cover a lot of ground including choosing animals for the system, good grazing practices, hedgerows and living fence barriers, options for tree crops and timber, and a whole lot more. Be sure to stay tuned all the way to the end where Steve and I revisit the question that has come up so often in different agroforestry conversations, which is, how do you survive the transition to slow maturing perennial crops when it takes years before they begin to start producing and making money. Silvopasture offers some great solutions to this challenge, and many others

Resources:

https://www.chelseagreen.com/?s=steve+gabriel

http://www.wellspringforestfarm.com/

http://silvopasturebook.com/

Don't forget to vote for Climate Farmers with the hashtag #climatefarmersxecover in all your comments and posts before this Sunday to help us win an essential grant to advance regenerative agriculture in Europe. Thank you in advance for your support!