Silvopastured Goodness

Meadowfed Lamb is a silvopasture project headed by Rachel Haas and Matt Kaminsky based at Preservation Orchard in Hadley, MA. Our goal is to explore new ways of growing tree crops and animals together, prioritizing animal & ecosystem health.

What is Silvopasture?

Silvopasture is the intentional combination of tree crops and livestock. The integrated management of grazing herds and trees gives way to many benefits. In a system like this, trees benefit from added fertility and weed control from the livestock grazing nearby. The animals enjoy shelter from the trees, which provide wind protection and a reliable source of shade. Well-developed tree roots help increase the drought tolerance of pastures and exhibit higher potential carbon sequestration than other methods of agricultural land use. Animals raised in these systems gain weight more efficiently, and require less water because they are less stressed by the elements.

Our animals graze the north-facing slope of Mt. Warner. They tend the fields and orchard floor as part of a rotational silvopasture grazing system at Preservation Orchard. We rotate our herd of primarily Finnsheep and mixed-breed flock of layer hens between rows of cider apple, chestnut, and heartnut trees and are moved to fresh paddocks daily. The sheep are protected from predators by livestock guardian dogs, who provide the safety & companionship they need to revel in their innate ovine joy, enjoying a rich, diverse forage diet of both ground-based vegetation and tree fodder.

Finnsheep are an incredible breed- known most for their prolificacy in lambing, known for having ‘litters’ of lambs (3 or more) in their prime. We find them to be intuitive mothers and incredibly gentle with us, making them very easy to handle. The flavor of our Finn lamb is delicate but divine - deep, sweet & tender in flavor. Finn is known for being an incredibly fine meat, not having the gamey flavor often attributed to lamb & mutton. You really need to try it for yourself. They have lustrous, soft fleeces which are lovely for hand-spinning & make strong, soft yarns. They are a low-grease breed, so fleeces are easy to clean. We select the members of our core herd based on many attributes- grazing enthusiasm, natural parasite resistance, conformation, fleece dynamics, temperament with dogs, shepherd & fellow herdmates. We have recently included a CVM wether and a small dairy flock comprised of two East Freisian X Tunis ewes & one very large Targhee X Tunis ewe. These new breeds show up generously in our yarns, blended with Finn- and have added a really lovely dynamic to our yarn.

Our mixed-breed flock of 120 layer hens spends the days in the open air, scratching and running free. They provide us with a daily harvest of fresh, multicolored eggs that are simply amazing. The rich, jammy yolks are deep orange, and we stock all of our eggs as fresh as possible.