Eric Husted brought Lorax Forestry to La Boca in the spring of 2008.  He has adapted his draft horse skills to a farm setting which has created a unique application of sustainable agricultural practices.

Our intention is to resurrect and (re) develop methods of farming that are less reliable on fossil fuels. In order to accomplish this we need to more intensively cultivate an area that is larger than the gardens and is for crops that are especially suited to farming with horses.

“Weed the Soil, Not the Crop” - Bio-Extensive Crop Rotation System

Anne and Eric Nordell of Pennsylvania have developed and written about a horse-powered rotational system that keeps ½ of the market garden in either fallow or cover crop and ½ in market vegetables. By timing summer fallows and appropriate cover crops along with early and late season vegetable crops they have been able to reduce their hand weeding to just a few hours per acre in their 6 acre market garden. This season we will be implementing a similar system using our horses on 4 acres outside the fenced in garden. We will have eight ½ acre plots that will go through a 4 year cycle of cover crops, fallow and vegetable production. By staggering the plantings based on the life cycles of the weeds we are trying to eradicate we will be able to dramatically reduce the weed seed bank in the soil and reduce the amount of hand weeding necessary. Last season almost 60-70% of labor used in the garden was hand weeding. Much of that labor will be able to be directed towards other, more profitable, projects. 

Using his horses, Dan, Will, and Fanny, Eric has successfully produced several acres of hay and small grains at La Boca.  

With the Lorax sawmill on-site, Eric also provides wood to LBCS in their efforts toward green building and self-sufficiency.