The Accidental FarmerLearning how to farm on the fly

We were fortunate to have a recent farm visit from Crystal Klym, Coordinator for the Central Kootenay Invasive Plant Committee. (CKIPC) After 5 years of battling weeds on our own, it was time to call in the expert.

I became aware of CKIPC when I attended one of their guided field trips and talks at Fort Sheppard, south of Trail. These trips are well worth attending with information about invasive plants, things NOT to plant in your garden and methods of controlling different species. We saw how dumping a load of weeds off the side of the road can require a backhoe and dump trucks to eradicate years later.

Yellow Hawkweed, spreading by root

There are three general ways weeds spread. Some do so by seed alone, some by root alone, and some by seed and root. It was one of the latter that caught Crystal’s attention first, Yellow Hawkweed. She explained that if you cut it as we do, it sends runners sideways, creating a solid mat of greenery that kills everything else. Allowing it to seed only makes it spread further and faster.

I was unhappy to hear that the  recommended treatment for Hawkweed is a so called ‘short-acting’ herbicide. We have worked hard to avoid such things by hand pulling, cutting and ploughing. We will think about that one and see if we can find an alternate treatment. The longer you wait the less choice you have so we need to figure it out soon.

In general, Crystal gives us the thumbs up for effort with some words of caution. “Deal with that Hawkweed, Sulphur Cinquefoil and Creeping Buttercup.” is her first recommendation. She gives me a wealth of material and we sit down to browse through it and discuss the nasty’s that lurk on our property.

Crystal encourages me to come up with a plan. Apparently, I have been shooting from the hip until now.

This plan involves mapping and classifying of your invasive plants, finding control techniques for each and then prioritizing. We go over our problems species and how to handle them. She walks me through the steps and shows me how to fill in the worksheet before our conversation turns to mountain biking, home renovations and how she came to live in the West Kootenays. I love those conversations.

We are now attacking the weeds that will do the most damage first. The plan involves continued monitoring and Crystal encourages me to take pictures to document it. Comparing photos is far easier than trying to remember what things looked like last year. I don’t have a photographic memory.

Creeping Buttercup thrives on poor grazing management

The list of weeds on our property is long. Plantain, Hawkweed, Burdock, Canadian and Bull Thistle, Yellow Bog Iris, Common Knotweed, Mallow, Chicory, Shepherd’s Purse, Knapweed, Creeping Buttercup, Mullein, Chickweed, Cudweed, Curled Dock, Oxeye Daisy, Pineapple Weed, Sulphur Cinquefoil and Yarrow. Some are native but most were imported from Eurasia as garden ornamentals or medicinal herbs.

Some are beautiful in full bloom. The deep purple-blue of the Chicory flower is one of my favourite wild colours. Invasive plants won’t feed our animals though and certain plants can kill them or taint their meat so it is less than ideal.

Time to get back to work on that plan.

Speaking of plans, the next weed post will contain some great resources I have found and what we have done to control weeds. In the meantime, why not check out the CKIPC website by clicking the link at the right side of the page.