pasture: pollinator species and forages
This question from a fellow farmer:
Do you have a list of meadow or native wildflower/forbs/legumes that would be good to plant for dual purpose as attractive pollinator species as well as cow forage? I have some bare dirt on which I’m re-establishing ground cover and want to take advantage of the excellent opportunity of this blank canvas!
Well, most of the nice native/naturalized meadow flowers around here are also cow forage at some stage of their growth. Thistles and asters are favorites at four o'clock on a summer afternoon, when the brix is high; Queen Anne's lace is grazed most in its first year, less in the year it flowers (it's a biennial). Medium red clover is great for forage and for honey, and chickory (my favorite!) is lovely and good pasture. Goldenrod is heavily grazed before it flowers; milkweed is a medicinal forage (five bites a day keeps the veterinarian away); bindweed (wild morning glory) is just cow spaghetti. Joe Pye weed is glorious; I'm not sure who eats it, but I always like to see it.
The list is endless.
As for planting it, on our land, at least, all these are species that will come up whether we plant them or not! At least, it's all stuff that will come up without encouragement, although not all of it will come up every time, everywhere. If you want a good mix, you could import some really weedy hay, lightly mulch the area, and then water well and see what comes up. Or go mow a meadow you like and rake up the clilppings and spread them in the same way.
There should be some good native pasture mixes out there for sale, but they may come in fifty pound bags and be a little pricey!
Don't miss our fall Skills Weekend, where local farmer and grazier Clint Finney will be teaching the basics of good holistic planned ('rotational') grazing!