Being a small farmer Part 3 - Finding balance

Having an integrated farm is a challenge of balancing the natures of the various elements.  Since the goal is to go as natural as possible, we raise free-range kampung chicken so this means that they are free to wander all over the farm.  By nature they will scratch the ground looking for insects and worms to feed on as well as pecking at the young shoots.  Being what they are, they are also capable of flying quite a distance - I have watched them fly as high as 2m across the fish ponds which is about 10m wide.  So fencing off areas is not really feasible.  While they serve a function as pest control mechanism, they also become the pest.
At the same time, there are all those insects and worms that just love to munch their way on the leaves and for some reason, they tend to leave the weeds alone!  The rule is no chemical pesticides because not only do I not want to introduce them into the vegetable, albeit may be traces of it, I also do not want it to leach into the ground and making its way into the pond or the water system.  At the same time, not all insects and worms are bad - some insects are natural predators to the insects that are pests.  I also want to have earthworms and they are the natural soil aerator as well as natural mechanism for improving the soil.
I also have 10 cats and I need to protect my vegetables from them too.  In spite of having a large area for them to do their "business", they like to dig around the "softer" soil of the plant beds.  On top of that, when they decide to play catch, it wreaks havoc on the plants.  These cats serve a purpose of keeping what I consider pests to a minimum - I haven't seen a rat or mouse since I started having them on the farm and the smaller snakes have also seen to disappear - some were caught by them and maybe the others decided to find better living conditions.
I am constantly working on ways to better improve the balance so that I can produce the best.  Every day is a learning experience and nothing beats going through it and my mind is constantly challenged to try and figure out the solutions to issues.

I now plant all my leafy vegetables in polybags and there are placed in the greenhouse so that they are protected from the chickens and to a certain degree, the insects.  This also helps to ease controlling the weeds.  For climbers like long beans, they are also planted in polybags but each polybag is surrounded by "tube" fence that  keeps the chickens and goose from getting to them whilst at the same time providing a support structure for them to climb.

My tomatoes are also planted in polybags and when they are big enough, will be surrounded by the fence-tube to provide the support structure they need.  The tomato plants are also placed in the greenhouse.
We try to compost as much as possible, returning back to the earth what is good, in the effort of continuing to balance our environment.  In this manner, all the weeds have a function - they become fertilizers later. 
Finding balance is important after all, every living thing has a right for the best and we all co-exist.