Garden and ... Grazing? ~ the Surprisingly Positive Additions to our Homestead

This summer we have welcomed a couple of horses onto the land at the request of a neighbor who didn't have enough space to graze them. As caretakers of this land it was really a no-brainer: of course we would love to host a mama horse and her little foal! And we were sure our mare, Tila, would enjoy their company.

A little backstory: we are caretakers here, tending to the house and landscaping in exchange for living here rent free. Over the years keeping the acres & acres of lawn in check was a big part of our summer activities. Once Tila showed up that went from a weekly to monthly chore. And now that we are hosting a mini-herd of horses they take care of the grass and weeds entirely!

The only challenge with their presence is keeping them out of my gardens that I have planted here and there. This young foal is a curious boy who wants to try a taste of everything from zinnias to my t-shirt. His cuteness makes up for the mischief he may cause and I know that Tila is enjoying running around the trails with this energetic boy.

My dream of having my front yard surrounded by zinnias and cosmos has been chewed to bits by the two mares and little foal but, I am willing to make such a sacrifice as the view of one, two or three of them grazing around from our living room window is just a sweet.

And to my surprise, they have left my collection of potted herbs alone, haven't disturbed my young pumpkin patch and have somehow missed that lone zinnia that you can see in the corner of the picture above.

Fortunately there is one spot where the horses can't go. Surrounded by blackberries and a chain link fence we have one small garden where cosmos and Spanish needle's are abundant (which happen to be two of their favorite foods).

Yesterday I spent a little time tending to the garden. Pulling up edible weeds t use in our lunch and yanking up grass that is encroaching on the plants I do want to grow there.

By the way, a few days ago I made a little vlog about my chores in the garden and also introduced the little foal. The video didn't receive much attention in the Threeshorts comm, so I am re-posting it here where it belongs, in the gardening community:

Maybe at the end of the growing season I will open up the garden to the horses to let them feast on whatever is left there after I am done harvesting. But, for now, they are quite content with six acres of grass, trees, and shrubs to forage in.

((the little foal drinking some milk from his mama)

Bitten up zinnias and cosmos aside, I am so happy that we can help out this baby and his mom who would otherwise be living on dry alfalfa and sparse grass. There is a lot more going on in the garden. Cannabis plants and all kinds of other herbs and flowers are soon to reach their peak so, stay tuned from more garden journals coming soon!