Moguls In The Micro-Prairie?
Snow moguls? In the micro-prairie? That’s what they look like — but I am not planning a ski hill in my yard. So what’s up? Why are these rather uniform mounds of snow in the back yard? If this was a You-Tube video I would tell you to put your guesses in the Comments section. But, since this is a blog I will just ask you to pause reading for a few seconds to make your guess. Then I will tell you what they are.
Ready? If you guessed ancient burial mounds you get a nod for being a history buff — but no, they aren’t burial mounds. If you guessed giant loaves of bread covered with snow frosting you get a nod for imagination — but, no they aren’t giant loaves of bread. If you guessed some winter phenomenon caused by deep snow and wind you are on the right track. The mounds are round, raised beds in the vegetable garden covered by wind driven snow. The beds are round but the mounds are slightly oblong so some wind sculpting took place. And, a couple of feet of snow provides plenty of material to work with. Plus, the blue shadows add a surreal quality to the image that I couldn’t resist. So, in this addition of Creating Micro-Prairies in the City I am going to show a few snow pictures that caught my eye this winter and I am going to talk about maslins (a permaculture concept) as well as thoughts on diversity and a follow up on a plant I mentioned in the last issue. So, first the snow pictures.
Here is the path I chiseled through the micro-prairie. On the right you can see snow piled up by the snow plows that is higher than my head. When all this snow melts at least some of the moisture will soak into the ground to alleviate the dry conditions we had last year. The micro-prairie will retain more of this moisture than the hardpan turf grass nearby because of the deep rooted native plants and richer soil in micro-prairie.
This photo show the place where I planted seeds in the fall. If the seeds don’t wash away with the snow melt, they should have plenty of moisture to germinate.
A New Jersey Tea bush sticks out of the snow. I like the fractal shape of the branches. This is one of a number of bushes that came up in this shady area in nature’s bid to reforest this spot. So, even when “snow lies round about, deep and crisp and even” there is still something to look at in the micro-prairie.
Now onto a few other topics that interested me. First, the plant I couldn’t identify in the last post (see below) is probably Persicaria pensylvanica a species of flowering plant in the buckwheat family per Prairie Moon nursery. The info they sent said it “… is native to parts of North America, where it is widespread in Canada and the United States. It has also been noted as an introduced species in parts of Europe and South America. Common names include Pennsylvania smartweed.” I uploaded a photo of this plant that I called swamp weed to a plant identification site which suggested that it was Pennsylvania smartweed. Then I contacted Prairie Moon to see what they knew. They couldn’t positively identify it but thought is was probably smartweed too so that it what I am going with. Prairie Moon did not say that it was in the PDQ mix I planted so it may have arrived from some place else. This is another example of “if you build it, they will come”.
Now let’s talk about maslins. This is a term I had never heard of until a friend mentioned reading an article about it. Maslins are a type of seed mix that farmers in Ethopia and other places have been planting for centuries. The mix consists of rye and barley species planted together and harvested together. The harvested seed is used to make flour and some of the seed is saved for planting the next crop. By using different species (barley and rye) and different varieties of each species the farmers created a seed mix that could adjust to growing conditions from year to year. If the growing season turned out to be dry, drought tolerant varieties in the mix would produce a crop where the other varieties might not. In wet years, the drought tolerant species might do okay but other varieties would provide better yields. In other words, the seed mix adjusted to climate conditions on the fly with minimal human intervention. Maslins would be a hedge against famine in drought prone areas of the world.
The maslin concept shows a stark difference in philosophy between people who are farming to survive and those who are farming to make a buck. In our corporate farming “to make a buck” mindset the maslin idea is very inefficient. If you plant one crop that you think will provide a good yield and growing conditions are right, you win big. But if growing conditions are wrong, you lose. If you are a corporate farmer you aren’t going to starve to death when that happens but if you are a farmer in a poor part of the world you might. In that case efficiency is not important — resiliency and adaptability are. Therefore, maslins fall into the realm of permaculture — working with nature to create sustainable and regenerative food systems.
Now, climate change is causing drought or flooding or sometimes both at the same time which disrupts our food supply. This sometimes causes shortages on store shelves. We aren’t going to starve this winter but we need to move away from planting cash crops to make a buck and start planting resilient crops to make food. It is a different mindset and requires different priorities. So, buy local to support local farmers who grow actual food without destroying the environment. They get it.
The idea of using diversified crops to create a resilient food supply resonates with me because of my experience with the micro-prairie. I sowed seeds of a variety of plants that grew here in the past. The seeds that fell on suitable ground germinated and grew. When the weather was hot and dry last year the drought tolerant plants thrived. If this year is a wet year the drought tolerant plants will hang back but those that can handle wet conditions can flourish. None of them go away completely but the ones that are best adapted to the micro-climates in my yard will dominate. The farmers using maslins found species that may have been native to their area and planted them together They then let nature figure which ones would dominate. This is a powerful concept that we are going to need for the long haul.
Well, that is it for this addition. Stay warm and keep doing what you can to build a strong community.
