Controlling Invasive Species with Goats

Tags

2018, autumn olive, Autumn Olive removal, Berthe Morisot, goats, Hildegarde, may apple, Morisot, multi-floral rose, nature, raspberry, Widget, wild geranium

If you were looking for me this morning, you’d have found me sitting in the woods with our goats.  Twice a week from now until October my mom and I are taking our goats to a nearby retreat center to eat invasive species in their woods.

The spot that I am taking the goats to had timber harvested about eight years ago.  As soon as the trees were cut, all the invasive species had the light and space to grow.  Since there was not a proper plan for the cleared land (such as planting more trees in tree tubes), the invasive species took off.  Now, the forest floor in that part of the forest is covered in multi-floral rose, autumn olive and raspberry–things that will take over if they are not eradicated.  Moreover, new trees cannot be established or planted until all these species are gone.

The retreat center was very against chemicals to eradicate the invasives, hence where our goats come in.  The retreat center used to have goats, but they were never put to good use, and the center doesn’t have them any more.  We live three minutes away and have three goats.  We were willing to make a test out of this forest area.  Our goal was to see how well three goats could control a couple of acres of invasive species.

We’ve taken our goats down five times now, and they just love the eating.  Since it is just a test, we don’t expect all the invasives to be gone over the course of these next five  months.  However, my hope is that once we have a fuller understanding of what goats can do to control invasive species, an appeal will be able to be made to the retreat center to have on site goats with a live in goatherd.  The goats would be able to be on the land all day every day and eat the invasive species down so that trees could be planted.  In the end, a healthy forest would be established.

I will be posting updates every few weeks with pictures to illustrate how this control of invasive species in this forest is going.  Hopefully you all will learn more about goats, plants, trees and sustainable forest management from them.

1. Hildegarde enjoying the sun.
2. Hildegarde again.  You can see the low, brushy invasive species in the background.
3. May apple blossoms and leaves.  The goats don’t like them.
4. Wild geranium.  The goats also don’t like this.

 

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Fracking

Tags

2016, earth, fracking, hydraulic fracturing, mother earth, nature

Do you know what fracking is?  Google it.  You may not know it by that name, maybe you have heard of Horizontal Hydraulic Fracturing.  Well, they are one and the same.

The fracking boom happened a few years ago, but is still happening now.  Natural gas and oil companies are going around and asking people if they can buy the mineral rights for their property.  They usually make it sound nicer than it is, by calling it “directional drilling.”  These companies offer big money for the mineral rights.  But even if you say no, they can still drill under your land: say one of your neighbors sells their mineral rights.  The company comes in and starts a well.  They drill straight down and then, they drill horizontally under your land.  It is a way to get what they want.

Sometimes though, companies will try to buy land that is for sale.  They’ll go to an auction and bid on it until they get it.  Many protesters go to the auctions to bid so that the companies have to pay more for the land.  Many people get arrested.  One of my dad’s friends went to a meeting and they wouldn’t let him in because he had long hair.

One of our friends, who sadly is no longer living, went to an auction.  Her husband had told her not to get arrested.  All the people who yelled in protest were arrested.  She tried to think what she could do to protest, but not get arrested.

She started to cry.

Now, I know that I don’t like crying in front of my family.  Imagine crying in front of a bunch of strangers.  It took a lot of courage and anger to do that.

The men from the companies just looked at her.  They were uncomfortable.  They had made a woman cry.

Think about it.

Woman are still not treated as equals to men.  We’re getting there, but not yet.  She used that to her advantage.  She knew that it would make them uncomfortable to have made a woman cry.  She used sexism to her advantage.

 

 

Fracking is a terrible thing.  Last year in May, there was a 4.2 magnitude earthquake in Michigan, some people felt it in Wisconsin.  Wisconsin!!  As you all probably know, earthquakes in Michigan are rare.  Getting more prevalent actually.

The epicenter of the earthquake was within a few miles of a fracking waste well.

Fracking has been know to be the cause of earthquakes.  Yet people refused to put the obvious two and two together.  Within a few miles!  And they didn’t think it was related!  Humans aren’t stupid, but sometimes they sure act like it.

So please take this into mind before you sell the mineral rights to your land.  Or go into the oil and gas industry.  Fracking is bad for our mother.