As the need for housing continues to grow in Northern Colorado, many contractors are looking for opportunities to transform old, forgotten pieces of land into a place for families to call home.
In doing so, many have to be creative in revitalizing old properties in order to break ground while aiming to be respectful to the environment and landscape in the process. Ryan Woodland of Woodland Home Company, (WHC) however, may have found one of the most unique ways to prepare an old Severance farm property for future development.
“Rather than tearing apart the old farm, our company was looking for ways to rehabilitate the property as we look to start building,” shared Woodland. “When it came to the problem of how to deal with the overgrowth of weeds on the property, we decided to take a different approach and turn to the goats.”
That’s right - goats. For a few weeks, WHC was responsible for nearly 900 cashmere goats who would transform the landscape in an ecologically friendly manner, while feeding their own voracious appetites in the process. Cashmere goats have a unique biological design that allows them to feed on weeds and destroy their seeds in the process of digestion. Their feeding habits also allow for fresh seed to be pushed into the soil, which is then irrigated by the goats' waste. The goats can be kept in smaller sections of land close together, which allows for them to “self clean” their precious wool, another valuable resource that the goats provide.
“It's a friendly alternative to using chemicals, and that's something that was important to us .”
In addition to utilizing the goats, Woodland and his company also opened a reclaimed lumber business - Woodland Home Marketplace - to help repurpose old barn lumber and provide a top-tier barnwood material distributor for residents of Northern Colorado. In additional effort to reduce their impact on landfills and to promote a more recyclable business model, WHC has also donated and sold a wide variety of building materials, fence posts, and wires from the site. Their local business model is to provide quality and unique work in everything they do so that families can enjoy their dream home.