Inspired by Mother Nature - Intentional, chaotic wildness
How wild it was, to let it be - Cheryl Strayed
Driving around the country side I see many perfectly manicured strawberry fields where the rows are perfectly straight, there is a nice bed of straw in between each row and the surroundings are tidy or pretty with no multi-tiered layers of vegetation or a ‘weed’ in sight. I have to admit that this organized design does make for a pretty picture and works for many growers however, come to our strawberry patch and you will see a very different view, but never the less what I would call still, a picture of beauty - Uncontrolled beauty at that.
When we have people drive up the drive way and ask where the strawberries are Fraser and I point and say over in the overgrown area with a bit of a grin on our faces. People look and then look back at us as if to say there, but where?! And we continue to say in amongst the towering sunflowers, through the grass and between the the rows of un-ruley vegetation. If you look very carefully through the layers you will find the berries!
The thing is nature is not perfect in the sense of being ‘tidy’ and having the perfectly straight, manicured rows is not what nature does naturally. Our berry patch one could say is wild and let go but it has been let go just enough that we get an even balance between practicality for us when growing and picking and allowing nature to do what it needs to do. This, we believe, is a significant factor which contributes to maintaining soil health within our patch and enhancing the quality of our berries.
Over winter we allow the weeds, grasses and other plants to germinate and grow between the rows. Whatever seeds are in that soil seed bank and those that are triggered to germinate can grow as much as they like and in return these ‘weed’ plants pay it forward in a number of ways;
Shelter for the strawberry plants - Allowing the plants to grow in between the rows gives the young plants shelter over the winter and from winds that come later in the year. The plants that grow to tower over the strawberries create a sort of microclimate which benefits the plants to buffer temperature fluctuations and weather conditions. During the hottest periods having some plants growing in between the rows helps to keep a little shade on the plants and plastic so to keep them at a cooler temperature. In turn this can also mean less transpiration occurs over hot periods benefitting the plants and means for less demand for water inputs.
Composting for future crops - Once it get to the time that we need to mow in between the rows for picking access we can mulch it down in a way that is putting plant matter that can be broken down back into the soil.
Keeping a living root in the soil - By keeping a living root in the ground, between rows, it means we can continue to allow the soil ecosystem to function. Instead of having bare soil which is then covered by the likes of straw we have a living plant with a living root, able to capture CO2 through photosynthesis and then contribute some of this energy into the soil food web through what we call exudates. These exudates feed soil microbes which is one key element in maintaining a healthy soil ecosystem. Without having this living root in the soil this process is not able to occur and soil can become degraded. By keeping this space as healthy as we can throughout the season it means we get the benefits for future strawberry crops.
Protection from birds - Plants in between rows are able to provide a physical barrier of protection from birds as the berries are not sticking out in sight as much and also they are harder to get to.
Plant growth - Of course many things we can see may just be theories but what we have seen when we have compared plots where we have not allowed vegetation to grow in-between the rows vs. vegetated inter-row spaces, we have seen a significant difference in plant size. This may be due to the plants having more ‘ideal’ conditions due to the microclimate or due to the fact that they have to compete with the vegetation for light and therefore grow at a quicker pace - extending their limbs as far as they can and growing leaves that stretch out to create as much surface area as possible to reach the light. We planted our runners from July through to the end of August and they are far larger than most plants we have seen, even though many were planted months after most growers plant.
Left: This seasons leaf Right: Standard strawberry leaf
It may seem ludicrous to allow vegetation between rows to grow the way we do and typical questions may arise such as; do we have problems with fruit rot? Do the plants provide a habitat for insect pests? Does it make it hard to pick? Do your plants rot out? Well the only thing that we have had to watch is making sure the fruit do not rot during wet periods but this can be prevented by following weather forecasts and mowing prior to these periods. As for the latter questions we have not had any problems but it is not to say that we do not have to monitor and manage the vegetation to some extent.
Although we do things a little bit differently here at Dairy’s Berries - with many of our practices being unconventional or not what we often consider ‘normal’ what drives us to go against the grain is 3 main concepts - 1. growing quality produce sustainably, 2. providing meaningful, quality products to our consumers and 3. working with nature to the best of our ability for the benefit of the land we live on.