For years Jade Acres has practiced rotating grazing. Rotating grazing can be defined as the selective use of grazing to allow the diversity of grasses, plants and herbs that the region offers an opportunity to flourish. Certain areas are grazed, (or not grazed), during various periods of the year to respect different plants flowering times as well as the birds and animals that thrive on these plants during those periods.
We do not overgraze, and we constantly rotate our horses from area to area. Horse manure is spread to reduce nuisance flies.
Protecting Fairlee Creek, our animals are kept more than 300 feet from the creek and no runoff into the creek occurs thanks to a healthy buffer of plants and trees. The buffer allowed at Jade Acres farm is more than 3 times required by the US Army Corps. A substantial plantings of indigenous shrubs and trees along the creek helps encourage the population of spawning freshwater fish species, snapper turtles, fox, opposum, raccoon, beaver and white tail deer.
At Jade Acres, we recycle our cardboard, paper, glass and tins cans. We also compost manure in our farm gardens. We reuse any fertilizer created by nature composting on our fruit trees and vegetable gardens.
