Saturday, January 12, 2019

Putting Ecology into Agroecology Part 2

 This is the second part of three parts on putting ecology into agroecology. In this part I want to examine land and habitat restoration. It is an important part of regenerating land. This is partially done by monitoring the ecosystem covered in the last blog. It also involves introducing plants that heal the land. Developing land in such a way to emulate nature means several things, using native plants, doing this in stages and designing areas to create a balanced diversity.  The list below is for creating healthy habitats. Restoring land is an art and a science. It can also be a spiritual work. Healing land can heal one's soul. It connects us with the land.
  Plants that restore land: In general, Sonchus oleraceus (sow thistle), lupines, alfalfa, clovers, comfrey, dandelion, yarrow. The plant list below is for creating healthy habitats.
     Praries plants:  Amorpha canescens ( lead plant), Baptisia alba  (wild white indigo), white prairie clover, Lespediza, Heal all (pruella vulgaris), Lomatium and self heal.
     Southeast: plants: Alfalfa or Lucern, oats, white clover, rye grass, hairy vetch, yarrow, big blue stem grass, gamma grass, asclepias. self heal, plantain.
     Northwest plants: Red alder tree, yarrow, holodiscus discolor (ocean spray shrub), parnassia fimbriata, oat grass, Queen Anne's lace, bed straw, owl clover, Seablush, balsam, balsam root, lupine, Oregon sunrise, douglas aster.
     Southwest plants: Rice grass, Feather grass, blue gamma grass, James galleta, globe mallow, alsclepias, fleabane, bluebell flower, lomatium, wild sage.

Plants that remediate soil: Indian mustard, pelargoniums, sunflowers, sea pink thrifts, red clover, wild lettuce, gomphrena, claussenii, chick peas, birdsfoot trefoil, chinese cabbage, canna lily, salix, willow.

Plants that remediate water: Water lily (nymphea alba), phragmites australias (common reed), sparganium erectum (yellow flag iris), schoenoplectus lacustris (club rush or bull rush), duck week,  cress, stratiotes alvides (water soldier), hytocharis horsus-remae (european frogbit), ealamus (sweet flag reed).

Plants that attract beneficial insects: Yarrow, Umbellifers (dill, queen Anne's lace, ammi majus, caraway, parsley, fennel, cilantro), allysum, sunflower, clover, tansy, golden rod, borage, digitalis, chamomile, coreopsis, cosmos, verbascum, forsythia, amaranth, shasta daisy, vetch, chervil, spirea, aster, lavender, forsythia and tall grass for spiders.
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