Natural Agriculture Growing Systems
It is quite a challenge today to grow forage, crops, food, plants naturally. By natural we mean setting up a system where the energy and nutrients are driven by the soil foodweb AND no commercial or conventional fertilizers, chemical herbicides and or insecticides are used.
Here are some examples of what this may look like:
Organic Matter Going Into the Soil! This is a functioning eco system at work! Everything that grows on top of the ground gets pulled below the ground by the soil food web - so it can start the cycle all over again! The more organic matter in the soil, the stronger the land, the better resillence in bad times.
What you see on top of the manure from the steers grazed here the day before is fungi! This is good! Yes, it was able to grow out of the ground in a short period of time, throuh the manure, taking as much down into the ground as it can. Once the sun comes out the fungi on top dries out (manure has those little grayish, white thread look on it); but more fungi is on the way and in a few days the manure is only a shell, a crust that takes longer to break down.
Also note the clover, the grasses, and if you can see it, lots of earthworm castings - all the life in the soil working to pull downward the old and support more life - like the grass, clover, and is that vetch, too? Life begets life - the more active the soil biology, the more active is the growth!
Ponds: Water, water - the most valuable resource we have! We want rain to soak into the ground, not sheet off over the top of compacted land. If you have a working, live soil, the rain soaks in, slowly makes it way through the soil profile to the lower point - the tank, the river, the sea.
Soil has to be less compacted to avoid the sheeting effect of rainwater. When soil is alive, the soil becomes more friable, has better structure, and more easily allows water to penetrate down within the soil profile. This usually happens fairly quickly once the soil biology has been re-introduced. Water filtering through the soil profile is cleaner water than water that has sheeted over the top of land. This is a very valuable happening.
Why Natives Are Good in Pastures (Our View)
- Good grazing, nutritious, complete diets as not a monoculture
- Less care, less inputs, less nutrients needed
- Hold onto water - deep roots, drought hardy
- Beautiful, bold, vigorous, constantly changing
- What use to grow here - suitable for Texas lands
- Natives / fungi mutually supported and more likely to hold onto carbon
Native Plants! This is a great stand of Indian Grass in Sutton County, Texas at the Ross Ranch.
