Over the years of managing a small farm, and now a small plot in town along with a developing piece of raw land, I have noticed that once enough diversity of organisms has been established, new ones show up on an as-needed basis.
This looks like spiders moving in to take care of an overpopulation of mosquitoes before they become a nuisance. It looks like more bird species nesting in our trees or home every year. It looks like snakes and toads suddenly seen among the garden beds instead of slugs. It also looks like not just earthworms in a random shovelful of soil, but pillbugs, ants, grubs, millipedes and a slew of other tiny crustaceans. Eventually, we begin to see beautiful delicate pale mycelium fibers interwoven throughout every inch of topsoil. Along with the fungi come the spontaneous appearance of new plants. New species of what some consider “weeds” move in every year, along with and new types of herbaceous and woody species.
(A simple permaculture guild of elder flanked by seaberries, with strawberry and violets ground gover-all sounding a cherry tree)
(Black Walnut sapling thriving in the rich soil next to the elder)
(Field maple sprout nestled under the strawberries)
Not to mention the myriad of visitors who show up on occasion like our friendly owl, squirrels, crows, dragonflies, butterflies, moths, ducks, swallows-even a few turkeys, skunks, bats, and opossums. Yes, we have had turkeys visit us here in them middle of town this year!
Many of these species may seem to some like pests. It is easy to become senselessly biased against what we socially describe as nuisances. Certainly, mosquitoes create a real barrier to tolerance. But when we see that our own baseless bias against dandelions, catnip, wild lettuce, burdock, queen Anne’s lace and any number of volunteer species in our yard prevent mosquito predators from living in or even visiting our spaces.
The natural progression of species that appear in newly disturbed soil and progress to a rich, mature environment which supports the maximum quantity and quality of life often requires the same species we are socially biased against. Has it ever occurred to anyone to wonder why a “weed” is a “weed”? What makes it a weed, anyway? Typically, it is only our narrow preference for an aesthetic lawn. So few plants are an actual danger or pose any true nuisance to humans that, it truly does boggle the mind of every natural thinker as to how this sad state of affairs has come about.
Loading comments...