Landscape Vegetables Livestock Fruit Logging Food Changes
	Landscape & setting Chert Hollow Farm is set in a narrow, Ozark-type valley with bottomland fields along a winding stream and upland slopes covered in a mix of pasture, prairie, and forest. Our landscape and ecology are quite diverse, and we are working to integrate our farming operations into the natural world already present. The farm is underlain by diverse bedrock, including limestone, shale, abundant chert, and multiple coal seams. Our soil is officially a silty loam, though the clay content is quite noticeable. The narrow valley location produces its own microclimate; our fields get frosts a month earlier or later than ridgeline locations, but winds are also weaker and less damaging. Perhaps most importantly for organic farming, the valley setting helps isolate us from outside contamination.
	Vegetable production We have three main production areas: an intensively managed market garden, a larger vegetable field, and an orchard area. In 2009 we began expanding our market production into the larger field, and in 2010 we expect to fully utilize this field in addition to some production in the orchard area. In addition to market sales, we grow and preserve a significant amount of our household's food year-round. Organic, sustainable management is core to everything we do on-farm. Follow this link to learn more about our growing methods, philosophy, and market sales.
Livestock & poultry In 2008 we began keeping goats, chickens, and geese for our own use and for the benefit of the farm. The manure and bedding generated from these animals helps fertilize our produce, their grazing helps manage our pastures, and the experience we gain working with them now will benefit us down the road as we increase their population. All animals are kept on range and fed as natural a diet as possible The dairy goats currently provide us with milk (for cheese and yogurt), and kids for meat. We cannot legally or economically sell any of these products at this time, but at least can supply our own kitchen. The chickens provide quality eggs and meat year-round. The geese are excellent grazers and future breeders.
	Orchard & fruit While we have some wild fruit on-farm, we are working to establish domestic fruit production. We are currently clearing cedars from an overgrown pasture to make way for berries, brambles, and an orchard. The first plantings will take place in 2009, with additions through many years to come. The photo at right shows the site of 2009's first berry plantings.
	Logging & future land use This land was last truly farmed before World War II. Since that time, thick stands of cedars and brush have encroached upon many of the old fields and pastures. We are slowly working to reclaim these areas, both for agricultural use and for restoration of native prairie. We work hard to conduct our logging and clearing activities in a sustainable manner. We chip most cedar branches for mulch, use small-medium logs for fence posts, and have  the larger logs milled for posts and lumber; burning only some unchippable scrap. These efforts take more effort than the usual bulldoze-and-burn method of clearing land, but they minimize waste and soil disturbance while saving us significant money over purchasing mulch, posts, and lumber.
	Food production We strive to produce and preserve as much of our own food as possible, from basics like produce and meat to products like cheese and sauerkraut. Products we can't produce we attempt to source locally, such as wheat flour from a grower known to us. Starting in 2008, our dairy goats have allowed us to regularly make yogurt and a variety of cheeses, including ricotta, mozzarella, cheddar, and feta. We have begun growing our own drying beans, and dent corn for cornbread. We do our own butchering on-farm, from animals we raise, preparing and freezing it in ways that suit our tastes and needs. Sourcing the majority of our food on-farm is another aspect of the integrated sustainable model we are working to enact.
	Long-term changes Natural landscapes are always changing, though the process is not always clear at any given time. We have initiated a long-term project using digital photography to document the condition of our land from the beginning. From a set of standard points, we take a series of photos at known compass points that can be replicated over time to document changes over seasons and years. The full collection of these images is too large for this web site, but we will feature a few of the more interesting locations here. Currently available: Photo Point 2 (preview at left): Market garden Photo Point 8: (preview at right) Road to field