As you pick your flowers and herbs, you have probably noticed the new row of shrubs that is growing and flowering in our field. No, they’re not blueberries! This is one of our new native hedgerows that our farm and agroecology teams planted.
Hedgerows, much like our old stone walls, serve as boundaries and borders between fields. Historically, they were especially useful for managing livestock and forming windbreaks to protect crops. In recent years, research has shown that these strips of woody vegetation also serve as important habitat for pollinators and other beneficial insects.
With this in mind, we put together a planting plan that includes several native shrubby species including willows, beach plums, viburnums, bayberry, elderberry, New Jersey tea, buttonbush, winterberry holly, meadowsweet, steeplebush, serviceberry and more! The purchase of these plants was supported by a grant from the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources, and over the past few months we planted 1,500 linear feet down the middle of our main field. While this may seem like an odd place to put a hedge, we expect this will be the best way to bring diversity and the other benefits of the planting to as many of our crops as possible.
We’re now in the process of mulching and underplanting the shrubs with native grasses, sedges, and forbs (wildflowers). Over time, the hedgerow will grow to 6-10 feet tall, slowing wind that dries vegetation and soils in the summer. Introducing these perennials to this otherwise annual system will also support our goal of building soil health. We are also excited for ecological benefits, as these native plants will support native insect biodiversity that in turn flows up to birds and other predators (who will also eat the berries). Several of these species (elderberry, shadbush) also have exciting potential culinary uses that we expect will be fun for our kitchen team to experiment with.
This project is just one example of our agroecology initiative, in which we are using our vegetable and livestock operations as living laboratories to experiment with farming innovations that balance and enhance habitat conservation and sustainable ag production. Stay tuned for updates on this project as it grows and more!