Remaining silent about the destruction of nature is an endorsement of that destruction.

This is the second part of the little article that I posted yesterday.

 

 

Will Rogers once said, "Buy land, they ain't making any more of the stuff." Quite true, so we take his advice and get ourselves a 100 acre parcel of land to call our very own. The next step is to turn that patch of dirt and weeds into the paradise that we have always wanted. Eco-logical Restoration of a large piece of land can seem an expensive and hopelessly daunting task. But with a closer look at the process and proper techniques, an environmentally logical restoration plan can be formulated to fit just about any acreage and almost any budget.

Many folks figure that since they have a 100 acre piece of property, and their Native American Seed catalog says that they need 20 pounds of seed mixture per acre, that they are going to need 2,000 pounds of seed to plant on their land. Since that might be too expensive, they give up on the idea entirely. But wait just a minute. Where there is a will, there is a way.

1. The first step is to figure out what species of plants need to be planted. Are there already good stands of certain Native Species? Is it over-run with exotic invasive weeds? Is it just bare dirt? Two key elements need to be examined: Knowing what is already there and having an idea of what "should" be there. This information quickly allows the landowner/manager to create a desired species list. From there, a custom blend of Native Seeds and seeding rates can be developed that are a good fit for the land and its intended uses. These steps sometimes require a little background knowledge of natives and how they work into the bigger picture of nature. Spending time (lifetime) doing research, or a little money for a professional consultation, at this stage of the process could save big bucks by getting you onto the right path to a successful planting.

2. After getting to know the land a little better, the next thing is to focus on areas that are really able to be planted. Out of those 100 acres, how much area is covered by buildings, roads and other such "improvements"? And, of course, you won't be seeding into the stock tanks. There are likely areas of trees or heavy brush that can't be planted as well. So the original figure of 100 acres might actually only be 80 acres +/- that can be actually planted. Now, out of that 80 acres, there are different ways to go about planting it that can have a big impact on the cost of the project. One of the most cost effective ways is the use of a no-till seed drill that is designed to plant Native Seeds. The money and time saved by employing an experienced operator using the proper equipment often makes much more sense than purchasing or even renting the equipment and trying to do the job yourself.

 

3. Aside from using the right energy andtechnology for the job, there are also many strategic techniques that can be used to stretch the project budget. For example, planting part of the acreage in strips instead of a solid planting can greatly extend the budget for a restoration project. This process is very similar to planting sod for a front lawn in a checkerboard pattern and allowing the grass to fill in. This technique takes a little longer to get the desired end results, but is very effective in seeding large areas of land where it might be cost prohibitive to plant an entire area. Calculating from our original figure of 100 acres, which became about 80 acres once we eliminated the areas that are not going to be planted, let's do a lil' figuring. Maybe it would be best to plant 60 of the 80 acres in strips and 20 acres in a solid planting. That leaves us 20 acres planted solid and half of the 60 acres (30 acres) to be actually planted, for a grand total of 50 acres planted. Already, you can see, we have cut the cost of planting in half. By placing attention on existing vegetation and by creating a custom seed mix, we can bring any project into a price range that is both cost effective and of great value to the landowner and to the land itself.

That is what eco-LOGICAL restoration is all about. Start the healing process on your land while increasing your land's value and productivity. Being among the more fortunate of the planet's citizens, we feel this is our responsibility. Our mission at Native American Seed is to help you to make grassland restoration an economically sound choice for the stewardship and long-term management of your land.