Our little farm is home to over 2.5 acres of Ohio native wildflowers, referred to by some folks as weed fields. As organic farmers, we discarded the idea of golf course type lawns and prefer the natural look of wildflowers for both their beauty and their purpose in supporting healthy, natural pollination of our food. On our little farm, we don’t use chemicals, including pesticides, chemicals of any kind, and rarely use an herbicide (exception made for multi-flora roses). Frankly, we’d rather eat a bug than any kind of chemical.
Really, to have this conversation, I first need to address how we and others define weeds and wildflowers. A weed is technically any plant that is growing in an unwanted location. If it serves no purpose in its location and one doesn’t want it there, then it's a weed. A wildflower, however, is generally a wild plant that's a pretty addition to a field or flowerbed. This is personal perception and defines the purpose of the plant. For example, Goldenrod is commonly considered an unwanted and unwelcome plant in many lawns and fields, so a weed. Goldenrod is also an amazing plant that supports pollinator insects and is critical for their survival. Goldenrod pollen feeds countless bees and other insects and has medicinal qualities as well, so not a weed if one recognizes the purpose of having it. Ohio is home to about over 3,000 species of wild plants, with 75% of them being Ohio native plants. Ohio native plants are believed to have lived here since the mid-1700’s. Call them what you will, weeds, wildflowers or something else, they provide food for over 500 types of native bees, butterflies and other beneficial insects. And that doesn’t include honeybees, which are widely used as pollinators, but are not native to Ohio. As urbanization grows in Ohio, native plants and pollinator insects are quickly losing their homes. Currently, over 600 native plant species in Ohio are considered rare, threatened or endangered.
With the information above in mind, we dedicated over 2.5 acres to native Ohio prairie fields. We are fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with Portage Soil and Water, the USDA, Pollinator.org, and others to plan, create, and maintain our fields. In addition to the fields, we also support the pollinators, birds and other small animals that live in the fields with hedgerow fencing, spot removal of invasive plants such as multi-floral rose and thistle. The pollinator insects, in turn, pollinate our apple, pear, and peach trees, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, grapes, and our vegetable gardens. It’s a win-win on the farm for us. We get healthy, chemical-free food, a beautiful field of wildflowers that bloom from May to October, local wildlife has a safe home, and as a bonus, the plants also support reduction of erosion from floodwater and support a clean environment. Not weeds from my perspective.
I want to tell you a little story about weeds in my garden, too. One year we planted our green beans and then went on vacation for three weeks. We knew there’d be weeding when we returned, but were not really prepared for what we found. Our beans were overgrown with two types of “weeds” that simply buried the beans. I use Seek, a free app to identify plants, and ran the weeds through the app, then looked them up online. I found that both “weeds” were edible and that one of them, purslane, was much more nutritious than the green beans. We decided to try some, and soon found we had a new favorite salad green. We now cultivate purslane in our garden as a vegetable. I’ll never call it a weed again because it is a nutritional powerhouse that I simply wasn’t aware of.
There’s another benefit for me as well. The wildflower fields feed my soul. In my life, diversity is critical. I live in a diverse family and strongly believe in the power and importance of diversity of people, food, ideas, religions – the entire ball of differences and commonalities that make this world the interesting place that it is. It’s been difficult recently, living in our current divisive and isolating environment. The diversity of plants and insects in our fields have become my “go to” place to find hope and reassurance that we might get past today’s environment and go into the future together. Our fields likely have over 100 plant species and many, many different pollinators living, working and simply co-existing. It’s motivating and awe inspiring to imagine that if the plants can do this, people can find a way, too. On our farm, we welcome all sorts of plants, people, animals and insects to join us in peace and good health, making our world a better place for all of us.
Note: all information and statistics in my blog are readily available online. Take some time to read!