James River Expeditions: Day Three: Oxbow to Jimmy's

Mr. Siebel

This report is coming to you from Jimmy’s backyard on the beautiful James River! Jimmy has generously allowed us to sprawl our tent city on his riverfront property. But first, let me tell you how we got here. This morning, on day three of our journey, John Siebel, an established farmer from Botetourt County, took the group on a tour of his farm. Farmer Siebel first bought Oxbow Farm, of 550 acres, in 1961. He donated 95 acres of this land to for a conservation easement to create a riparian buffer along the river. John has 150 heads of cow that are separated in four groups that he rotates among several paddocks to preserve the soil.

Learning about conservation easements and the history
of the canal remains on Mr. Siebel's property via hayride.

After our rigorous paddle on the James this morning, getting to Jimmy’s land was easy work after lunch due to the helpful tailwind. Nicely enough, the Twin River Outfitter let us go tubing down the river as a well-deserved reward. However, the reward didn’t last long due to the same tailwind that had pushed us quickly downstream earlier that day. Our dinner of pasta with pesto, fresh vegetables from Jimmy’s garden, and chicken was a delicious way to wrap up the day.