Category Archives: general farm

New Production Plot

Posted on July 12, 2017 by Alison

  Our land is smothered by smooth brome (Bromus inermus). To better establish new production plots, we grow vegetables for three years before seeding native species. We start by solarizing the new garden with clear plastic before planting the first … Continue reading →

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Fire, some thoughts

Posted on January 29, 2014 by Alison

I watched the fire run up to our production plots and thought “this epitomizes my farm career: I can’t keep up.”  Plums keep sprouting in new locations before the old thickets are brought under control.  A controlled burn (really) last … Continue reading →

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Pasture Burn

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Alison

“You won’t get a permit if we don’t get some moisture,” the Clearwater Volunteer Fire Chief flatly informed me.  It was the week before the seed conference, two weeks before we wanted to burn the pasture. “I understand.” Heck, I … Continue reading →

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Final Thoughts on the Native Seed Conference

Posted on April 15, 2013 by Alison

During the drive home from Santa Fe I studied my notes of the conference and developed a list of things we will try and reflected on some issues we cannot resolve but should follow.  My favorite quip was “we need … Continue reading →

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Native Seed Conference – Monday thoughts

Posted on April 9, 2013 by Alison

We’re in Santa Fe, New Mexico at a “national” native seed conference.  National is parenthesized because the conference is sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management and managed by the Institute for Applied Ecology both based in the western US.  … Continue reading →

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Understanding place, or, my mistake

Posted on February 27, 2013 by Alison

My sister and I grew up in Illinois surrounded by cornfields.  Before I left the state I volunteered briefly with the Natural Land Institute in Rockford and visited some land they owned and managed.  One piece was remnant savannah: red … Continue reading →

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Who We are

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Alison

Shoestring Acres Seed is a fledgling native seed farm located in northeast (verging on north central) Nebraska.  Here is where our great grandparents homesteaded in 1881.  Approximately 25 acres of pasture harbor remnant prairie.  The swales consist of tallgrasses: big … Continue reading →

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