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Earth Stewardship 101 - Part Two

continued

by Sheri Dixon

Once the ground cools off we’ll be ready for planting.

Native American Seed Co.  (http://www.seedsource.com/catalog/index.asp) was a seed source highly recommended by Heidi.  Jayson, my new friend at Native American Seed Co., spent a goodly amount of time counseling me on the phone.

Although his company has several lovely mixes of native grasses and wildflowers, when I told him the acreage we were working with and what we wanted to accomplish with it, he figured up a custom mix that would be both nutritious and successional just about year round.

 Date: March 1, 2007

 Custom Seed Mix for 4 Acres

For 4 Acres

 All these plants are either perennial or self/free seeding, giving us a permanent pasture that will need no fertilizing, and be really pretty to boot. 

Being accustomed to not running into too many "goat people" in the general populace, I was surprised (and impressed) when I mentioned reading that Maximillian sunflowers are a good source of protein, and Jayson asked me if we had dairy goats or meat goats. Apparently, this sunflower imparts kind of a musty taste to the milk, so although it’s very good for them, we need just a smidge or the milk will be…unpalatable.

Of course, such customer care comes at a cost. This sack of custom mixed seeds has a price tag that stopped my heart for just a moment, but then I got out the calculator and figured out that even if it feeds the critters for only 6 months out of the year, we’ll have broken even in the first year.

Nowhere in any plan do the words "till" or "plow under" show up, and that’s good for several reasons. 

First of all, we don’t have a tractor.

More importantly, remember that this parcel is a hill, and tilling it under, even carefully, would wash some of the topsoil downhill and into the creek.

If it were to rain anywhere between the "tilling" part and the "seeds sending down really deep roots" part, all our plant embryos will end up in a sad pile at the bottom of the hill.

No, our plan calls for the exciting, high tech technique of one of us walking along our scorched land, hand broadcasting seeds, while another follows with one of those big rolly things to tamp them just barely underground.

Having both Julie and Heidi do evaluations of our land was a worthwhile and eye-opening experience.  Both were wonderfully professional, friendly and helpful.  The information and recommendations made, and the reports compiled, would have been an excellent investment, and it’s just frosting on the cake that their services come free for the asking.  I strongly suggest that every landowner, whether just starting out or already established, avail themselves of their own county or state’s biologists.  Having your land looked at through different eyes can open up possibilities you may not have considered that will simultaneously enhance your land and enrich your life.

So we have an initial plan. Not an orderly, groomed, intensive, every-square-inch-toeing-the-line kind of plan, but more like a restoring-the-land-to- what-it-grows-willingly-and-well-and-rejoicing-in-the-wild-diversity-of-it kind of plan.

Dr. Wilson is right. That IS "more me".

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