Fat of the Land, Continued

The man in the book did not set out to become a regular farmer of his day. He wanted to set up a "factory farm" complete with animal confinement, but his confinement practices were pretty liberal in terms of space per animal compared to today's CAFOs. His 55 dairy cows were free to wander a 20-acre field during good weather, in addition to their barn and 3 meals a day. He did not raise more animals than he could feed from grains and hay grown on his own property, supplemented only with specific items to increase dairy yields and egg quality. He wanted to hire good men and specialists in hens or cows or pigs to do the work, and that makes sense if you want profits. I guess I like the soil itself too much to be satisfied paying someone else to grow my garden. 

While we were out walking today, we saw some subsoil in a deep hole in the road MLGW dug for work on the gas lines. It was like modeling clay! It was amazing. In some places, the topsoil is only a few inches thick, with feet of the clay underneath. It would take a lot of work and time to build really good, deep soil here, but with proper tillage and addition of amendments, garden soil can become more fruitful and productive every year. I'm learning about this.