In farming, that is. Attracting fish and wildlife, cleaning up rivers by removing pollution and pesticides, and raising the water table, these dams are part of a “beaver solution” in Spokane, WA. The beavers assist in wetland restoration (also a great boon for bird-watchers). Wetland sediment caused by erosion binds to pollutants like phosphorus, nitrogen, and heavy metals. The dams keep that sediment out of the water. Beaver Solutions also help land owners protect trees, manage flooding, and remove beavers to place them with farmers who actually can use their skills. One farmer uses their dams for irrigation, notching them to flood his grazing pasture. The industrious beavers repair the notches by the next day. (Listen to the podcast at Living On Earth. Mark Seth Lender’s following essay reads like a poem and is INCREDIBLE.)
Perhaps beavers can assist our New England cranberry farmers. The biggest threat to them now is runoff from people over-fertilizing their lawns. Over the years, and especially in the recent economy, farmers have sold off the land that once protected their wetlands and bogs to developers. The woods that would have absorbed pollutants and protected the cranberry bogs have become chemical-green carpets down to the shore. I see the same thing near my own home, a lawn extending into the lonely pond, the woods on the opposite side strewn with plastic water bottles, the huge stones left behind by colonialists sprayed with graffiti. Each spring, my family cleans the woods and recycles the plastic. This week, I’ve never seen the woods worse. Now, kids on ATVs and mopeds race through, scraping and knocking down saplings. I’m glad I rescued one of the wild blueberry bushes, which now thrives in my garden. But what do we do about the human animal? How can we educate people to know that supporting the natural ecosystem is to our advantage?
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| Taken in the school garden. |
Besides educating the general public that the health of all organisms depends on not using toxic chemicals, we can utilize the work of more animals in our own food chain. One human who knows this well is Joel Salatin (see Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan), who runs Polyface Farm in Virginia. He calls himself a “grass farmer” because that is the basis of the food chain he has established to produce meat from chicken, cattle, and pigs, as well as eggs. The cows graze on a mix of grasses, clover, and forbs, rotated carefully by Salatin. Two days later, when the cow manure has slightly aged and the fly larva is very plump, the chickens come in, working the manure into the land, adding their own fertilizer, and eating the weed seeds and grubs. The pigs have their share too, rooting through composted cow manure to get to fermented corn. Salatin also keeps several acres of woodland to the north, which act as a wind barrier, erosion control, supplying acorns for the hogs, and keeping predators of chickens contained. All the animal waste is composted and recycled. Customers say the quality of the meat and eggs cannot be matched.
Another farmer wanting to grow blueberries organically in California found that gophers were actually his friend. He set up Sierra Cascade Farm with 8 1/2 acres of highbush blueberries, with another 61 acres supporting the ecosystem. When John Carlon first planted his bushes, gophers moved in and dug tunnels under the transplants. Carlon expected to have to get rid of them, and spent several springs trying to trap them, with limited success. But he noticed that the blueberries weren’t worse for the wear and discovered that the gophers dug tunnels well below the shallow root system of the bushes. When he finally gave up trying to trap the gophers, local owls, coyotes, and gopher snakes from his surrounding land took care of the perceived pests until the population stabilized. The burrows left behind became ideal habitat for bumble bees, the natural pollinators of this North American crop. Bumble bees are much more reliable pollinators, not being daunted by cold or rain. Plus, they’re free. Carlon no longer has to rent honeybees. (Organic Gardening AUG/SEP 2011)
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| How did YOU do? |
My students caught bumblebees in our pollinator garden this week for scientific study, where I knew we could take advantage of their slow-moving docility and the cool temperatures of October reduced the chances a honey bee would sting them. We also found miner bees, another docile species. My hope is that through our school garden program, children will gain a life-long respect for our our ecological diversity. While I was buying Mason jars at a store I normally wouldn't be caught dead in (starts with "W"), I overheard a man ask a clerk where the bee killer spray was. I almost went to talk to the guy...why didn't I? I don't expect my students to grow up to be farmers any more than artists (art being the subject I teach), but perhaps they will think before they spray or fertilize, buy organic foods, vote for leaders who will protect the environment, or become those leaders themselves. What we do, what we believe, we are all connected.
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