3-29-11

Today was one of those days at work that make me realize that sometimes I am a bit un-prepared. I haven't really thought too much about a "work dresscode" meaning I usually wear what I was wearing earlier that day. That has left me in a tough spot once before when I was walking around someone's property in flip flops and trying to not slip down a hillside. Since then, I had tried to make sure I wore closed toe shoes, but this time, I was wearing shorts.

The property we went to first was a hillside property hoping to have pastures for horses, either through a circle pasture to run them or a possible one into the forest. The first idea was a discussion of permits. How close can a pasture be to a well? These are one of those times we realize that there are rules you must comply with before you decide "this is my property and I can do whatever I please with it." There was also a problem with a huge amount of springs "daylighting" to the surface around the area. This meant that there were concerns of contaminating waterways with horse manure as well as unsteady ground and erosion due to these springs. The other idea the client had was to put a pasture in the forest. Right away I knew that was not the best idea. First, the ways were treacherous (I definitely slipped trying to walk up through the springs popping up) and then from working on the toxic weeds poster I noticed a large amount of acorns on the ground, which are known to cause colic and death in horses. It was also around this time that I looked at Angie and said "Hey Angie, thats poison oak isn't it?" And which she replied, "Yes I'm pretty sure it is. Also watch out for ticks." Great. I was now slipping in mud, tramping through poison oak, and had to regularly check my body for little black bugs burrowing into my skin. Definitely not what I had planned on doing that day when I heard we were having a horse visit.

We discussed a bit more about creating a trails system around the property as a sort of "pasture" which would include fencing on both sides to keep the horses from the dangerous hillside. We also reviewed a lined waterway that had been built on the property. It was not finished yet but was a great start to controlling runoff and erosion on a hillside property. It had softball sized rock with filter fabric underneath and led to a culvert with a large slotted fence in front to catch debri. It was an excellent project to see, and while NRCS weren't the ones who designed/recommended it, it was the first time I had gotten to see a finished product of the type of projects we recommend.

The next property we looked at was a small farm that was already CCOF certified and was looking for anything that would help make their farm more environmentally friendly. Overall, they had already done a lot that we recommend such as crop rotation, well managed drip irrigation, lined furrows. Basically they were interested in finding a way to improve their road. Measures were discussed about organic sprays that keep the dust from the road down, or rerouting it to a different location farther from the crops. The following is some of the pictures of the road where throughcuts are evident.

an example of the drip irrigation