Covering the soil is one of the most basic things you can do in soil conservation. If you walk in the woods, you always see the ground covered with decomposing logs, leaves and understory. Small trees thrive under the canopy followed by grasses. Bugs and worms thrive beneath the rotting organic matter as rich moist topsoil is being formed.
The photo below just west of our barn was taken five years ago. There is one tiny patch of grass seen on the bottom right. What Happened?! This entire area was once covered with bahia grass and bermuda grass and now this... It's all dirt. In the summer, the sun heats up the dirt and dries it out. When rains come, the soil is washed away. When winds blow, the dust (our topsoil) is blown away.
In trying to figure the genesis of this problem out, I think it all started with bonfires. When winds would blow limbs out of the trees, I would stack up a big burn pile. The pile would continue to grow, and when it got HUGE, especially in the winter, I would light it up and we'd sit around it and enjoy its warmth. The fires were so big, one time the neighbors called the fire department thinking that our barn was on fire!
I love sitting around a fire, staring into the coals, but the fires killed the grass, exposing the dirt. The chickens scratched holes in the exposed dirt to take their dust baths. When tiny grasses started to grow, they dried up quickly in the heat and chickens plucked out the grasses to eat. The situation went from bad to worse. I had to change this!
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| A barren wasteland |
We have cows, goats and chickens all grazing on 3 acres. Soil health aside, this barren wasteland needs to have grass growing on it to feed all the hungry barnyard critters. I stopped burning the big bonfires and then planted sprigs of bermuda grass in the dirt taken from cuttings. Our chicken population, due to the minks, was cut in half, taking pressure off of the barren area and allowing the grass to take root and grow. Moreover, and I can't quite explain it, but for some reason the spring after a very hard freeze, the grass started coming back - first gradually and then quickly.
I took a photo of the same area yesterday. Although there is still work to be done in bringing this area back to its former glory, a good start has been made. Grass almost completely covers the old desert-like area. The animals and the humans are happy with the progress. Imagine how it would look if we hadn't been in a drought!
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| A return of our grass pasture |
The grassland now gives additional grazing capacity to our animals. The roots hold the soil together, reducing erosion. The grass keeps the soil cooler, and gives bugs and worms a place to hide and do their work. As organic matter decomposes, the soil and its microorganisms thrive, doing their job. We'll continue to do our part to rehabilitate the area that I negatively affected by unwise choices. More work to do, but I like before/after photos that show evidence of good stewardship of the land.
