Working With Land
October 22, 2019 9:19 AM   Subscribe

"It's our right to impose ourselves on that land and use that land so it benefits us," Floyd says. "It made sense to turn [the lots] into a community garden because you don't have any fresh food around here." Community gardens beautify urban space, but some seek to transform urban society. (Chicago Reader) Oyster reefs are making a comeback–by protecting coasts from the ravages of climate change (CNBC) “ For birds, soil organisms, small mammals, and bees and butterflies, prairie strips also provide much-needed food and habitat. As the benefits of regenerative practices like these are made increasingly clear, the pressing question has become: What would it take to get more farms to use them?” Planting Native Prairie Could Be a Secret Weapon for Farmers (Civil Eats)
posted by The Whelk (21 comments total) 23 users marked this as a favorite
 
I live in Iowa and that native prairie article reminds me of something that has been bothering me lately. Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer? (And it is always brown and straggly and ugly.) It seems so dumb. Why not plant native prairie there? Those shoulders and ditches could be thousands of miles of prairie flowers for bees and butterflies and birds.
posted by scottatdrake at 10:19 AM on October 22, 2019 [19 favorites]


Just found an ironic note on the oyster reef link: one of the ads running along site it when I clicked was a meal-kit delivery service specializing in "Fresh seafood to your home!"

To add to the irony, it appeared in the spot in the article where they were discussing that poachers in the new oyster reefs could become a problem.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:31 AM on October 22, 2019 [2 favorites]


Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer?

I've definitely seen extensive areas of prairie plants along Illinois interstates, although I'm not having much luck googling up details.
posted by Not A Thing at 10:39 AM on October 22, 2019 [3 favorites]


Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer?

Possibly unmowed prairie (or any unmowed grass) would be too high a fire risk; highways throw off various kinds of sparks, dry high grass burns really easily, the verges can carry the fire a long long way if you're unlucky. Bad combination of the fire adaptation of the prairie and our technosphere.

Pity we can't keep mixed-plant verges grazed, instead of mowing, at least.
posted by clew at 11:21 AM on October 22, 2019 [2 favorites]


I've talked to a couple people studying the benefits of habitat strips in arable and grape fields. One of the unexpected barriers was that the host farmers' fellow farmers reliably made fun of them for having messy weedy strips -- like, a lot of fun of them, probably threatening their ability to cooperate and plan locally, which is vital. Also emotionally painful, of course.

We considered putting a block of Obviously Intentional and Classy flowers at the end of each wild strip to make clear that it was not laziness causing it. But that takes more maintenance and money, making it a harder decision again.
posted by clew at 11:25 AM on October 22, 2019 [6 favorites]


About [Iowa] highways - I recently attended a lecture about native plants along highways by the Federal Highway Administration staff person involved in the creation of the “Monarch Highway” partnership. My summary of that lecture was “they’re trying, but it’s tricky!” More info at Monarch Joint Venture - it’s a cool project.
posted by Maarika at 11:58 AM on October 22, 2019 [8 favorites]


Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer?

There are half a million deer in Iowa. Letting grasses grow high would turn I-80 (and other highways) into even more of a shambles than they currently are. 1 in 73 Iowans hit a deer last year. That's 30,000 people. Wikipedia quotes an average repair bill at $3,300 for a total of $100,000,000ish. In one year. In Iowa. Not counting injuries and fatalities.
posted by the christopher hundreds at 1:34 PM on October 22, 2019 [3 favorites]


There are half a million deer in Iowa. Letting grasses grow high would turn I-80 (and other highways) into even more of a shambles than they currently are. 1 in 73 Iowans hit a deer last year. That's 30,000 people. Wikipedia quotes an average repair bill at $3,300 for a total of $100,000,000ish. In one year. In Iowa. Not counting injuries and fatalities.

One way of coping with this would be to allow hunters to sell venison commercially, which is currently not allowed in America.
posted by showbiz_liz at 1:42 PM on October 22, 2019


One of the unexpected barriers was that the host farmers' fellow farmers reliably made fun of them for having messy weedy strips -- like, a lot of fun of them, probably threatening their ability to cooperate and plan locally, which is vital. Also emotionally painful, of course.

That is effed-up. Sounds like some good marketing could make a difference there though.

One way of coping with this would be to allow hunters to sell venison commercially, which is currently not allowed in America.

Possible prion diseases makes me not a fan of this idea. Uninspected meat in general--yikes.

What about deer crossings (elevated or sunken paths across)?

Texas has a native wildflower program along many highways and it works great. Wildflowers don't get as tall as regular grasses. Every spring it's beautiful. We still get grass fires when it gets too dry, though.

Anyway, re the original article, it would be great if we could grow food without killing everything else so yeah, I'm for it.
posted by emjaybee at 2:13 PM on October 22, 2019 [3 favorites]


In this about working with land cf. working against land? Well, and sea, also.
posted by rustipi at 4:35 PM on October 22, 2019


Wait.

1 in 73???

Seriously?
posted by Miko at 6:28 PM on October 22, 2019


more deers in traffic is a thing. It has to with declining natural habitats because of new suburban land developments.
posted by ovvl at 6:50 PM on October 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


Y'all think too small. Fear will keep the local deer in line -- fear of this battlestation!
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:31 PM on October 22, 2019 [6 favorites]


Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer?

I don't know why particular grasses or ground cover plants are chosen, but the reason we make sure those plants are there is because modern roadways are designed with very specific drainage built into their construction, and being up a bit (or quite a bit) higher than the surrounding land is part of that. Only the earthen rises they build the roadways on need to have strong ground cover, possibly with specific requirements of how interwoven their roots can get, in order to prevent erosion and thus eventual destruction of the roadway.

It's entirely possible that the cost/benefit analysis of paying people to drive mowing tractors next to roadways is less than other options.

As far as unmowed roadway verges are concerned, of the 6 or 7 deer strikes I've had, only one of them involved the deer being visible next to the road. (I slowed way down to pass it, put on my accelerator when I got past it to zoom away, it charged at me and tangled its head in the deer guard breaking its neck and slamming its body against the passenger door of my delivery van.)

Every other deer strike has been a deer charging out of quite tall grass growing down on a ground level below that of the road, which had been built up for drainage, completely invisible to approaching traffic.

Mowing IS crucial to keeping people safe on roadways. I don't have other good solutions for keeping roadways intact while minimizing danger during drives.
posted by hippybear at 7:46 PM on October 22, 2019


Wildlife crossings seem like the way to go, but I don't know if their efficacy depends on current roadway maintenance practices outside of crossing areas, or if wildlife gravitates towards the crossings such that you can have a lighter touch on roadside landscaping.

Western Iowa is actually pretty damn good at native plants in highway ditches. The ditches on highway 75 in northwestern IA are absolutely gorgeous in a lot of places right now, the grasses and other plants can put fall trees to shame in a display of colors.
posted by jason_steakums at 8:27 PM on October 22, 2019


Wildlife crossings are brilliant and I have often driven several hours along stretches of highway that have them and haven't seen any sign of wildlife or blood on the roadway indicating a strike. They are highly effective. They also aren't cheap and are even less cheap as a modification of a road than as part of initial construction.

I've also seen over the road wildlife crossings like this one with extensive fencing guiding the animals.

I would love to see more of these. Montana seems to be pretty dedicated to this, but entirely understandably. Every one of my damage-causing deer strikes has been in far west Montana.
posted by hippybear at 8:33 PM on October 22, 2019


Why do we plant grass along interstates and highways that requires us to mow with giant tractors all summer?

They mow and clear as a safety issue. Line of sight, fire and wild animal strikes being the main ones but also finding people who run off the road and providing driveable shoulders to reduce collisions amd providing a place to plow.
posted by fshgrl at 8:52 PM on October 22, 2019 [1 favorite]


DEer collision data...not sure how to parse it, comes from STate Farm. Here's the thing though: it sounds really high to me. In states with a rate like 1 in 48 or 1 in 73, that means that in your average middle school, 6 or so people will make a claim for a deer collison every year. On a Friday night in a busy restaurant, 1 or 2 people there will have hit a deer in the last year. This just doesn't match my experience, though admittedly I don't run around asking people whether they've hit a deer in the past 12 months. I know a few people who have hit a deer, but not a lot of people nor does it feel like it happens to someone in my circle on annual basis - and deer are everywhere on the roads where I live too - everywhere.
posted by Miko at 5:25 AM on October 23, 2019


I can't tell if that data includes professional drivers like truckers, who I'd assume make up and outsize proportion of these collisions?
posted by showbiz_liz at 11:27 AM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


Possible prion diseases makes me not a fan of this idea. Uninspected meat in general--yikes.

There is no reason the meat couldn't be sold to a distributor who centralized and handled the inspection. I suspect the real problem would be money motivated hunters over killing the deer and whatever else they encountered. Essentially it would be Buck Buck Fever.
posted by srboisvert at 1:18 PM on October 23, 2019


Curran points out that community gardeners who don't have legal standing to be on the land they cultivate have had success protecting their gardens by "making the space very political," in the way Floyd described. If the garden is identified as a site that's important to the community's identity or as a site of resistance, "that becomes less attractive to developers because they know it'll be a site of conflict if they try to destroy the garden."

I think that this point is really interesting in contrast to the mention, later in the article, that after a different garden was destroyed, [t]his time, Assata's Daughters is keeping the location secret, not only to protect themselves from displacement but also to make sure the garden remains a resource for its neighbors first.

It seems like there are a lot of different strategies used by community gardeners in an effort to keep their gardens, and none seem particularly successful in the face of even the slightest desire by any of of the powers-that-be to reclaim that land from them. As a gardener, I find it particularly frustrating to hear of a community striving to start a new garden after a forced move because I know how long it can take to establish certain crops. Sure, a community garden can pop up for six months and get some cucumbers and lettuce out of the deal (and that's amazing, and not to be sneered at), but establishing a perennial crop like asparagus that takes three years from planting to harvest, or getting some good shade trees going, or planting picky fruits like citrus that hate to have their roots disturbed - that takes years. Even beginning a project that involves a tree assumes a certain level of continuity.

It's particularly galling to read that it's often the community gardens that make the space enticing to developers to begin with, indicating an area that is revitalizing (read: ripe for gentrification).
posted by DSime at 2:02 PM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]


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