This spring, I seeded in some grass with a no till drill on about 25 acres. By the time I had my pasture walk in July, I had a beautiful stand of Rag weed, lambs quarter and a number of other so called weeds—and very little grass. I was very concerned until I noticed that the cows seemed to eat these weeds. Then I noticed that despite a very dry summer, the soil beneath the weeds was cool and retaining moisture. Later, as the weeds passed their prime, the grass I had planted started to take hold. This has been an incredibly dry year and it is amazing to see this grass growing after a dormant stage when I thought it had been heat killed. I am always humbled when observing the way nature tends to correct imbalances in the ecology and find ways to protect the ecosystem’s resources . The weeds acted as a “nurse crop”for the grass and they were able to keep the soil cool by providing shade. Had I mowed these weeds earlier in the season, this would probably have resulted in the young fragile grass being killed off by the heat.
I’m definitely hoping to manage the pasture in a way that increases the more palatable grasses over time. But this year, I’m feeling lucky for what I already have.
Last night I gave a talk at the Hollis Social Library on nutrition and local foods. Much of it centered on Weston Price’s findings and raw milk and grass-fed beef. But my training is in ecology, and I illustrated some of the plants (crop, native, weeds, invasives) using my eBook, Botany Everywhere on the computer screen. As I explain in my landscaping classes, allelopathic interactions between plants are an important part of the inter-specific “taking turns”, and your observation on the function of “weeds” this summer are of vital interest to me. I sometimes wish the Hollis farmers were more observant. I would love to talk with you about the course I am planning on Sustainable Agriculture, for the Landscape Institute at BAC. I found out about your farm and website from some of the attendees at last night’s talk. Great website! I suspect that the carbon content of the soil also went a long way toward drought-proofing your land. I am amidst Joel Salatin’s new book: The sheer ecstasy of being a lunatic farmer. So far, very good ecology!
Looking forward to meeting