Incubate: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.”

Started in the fall of 2019, this farm frontage planting covers 2,800 sq ft. This contains American Elders, Lilacs, Hazelnuts, Buttonbushes, Sweet Mockoranges, Marshmallow, Nanking Cherries, Eastern Red Buds, a crabapple, and a Chicago Hardy Fig. This planting serves as a wind and exhaust break, acts as a carbon sink, provides food for wildlife, and prevent erosion of agriculturally rich soils.

Read the Douglas County Historic Conservation Council’s Natural & Cultural Grant Final Report here!

There is currently a large Johnsongrass growth that has rendered one of the plots at Common Ground’s Incubator Farm unfarmable. Remediation will also be crutial to the frontage planting as funding and capabilities to finsh its establish become available. Non-chemical, on fossil fuel intervention is currently being investigated. See below for a Literature Review on Johnsongrass that also includes possible methods for no-fossil fuel, non-chemical remediation.

Johnsongrass Literature Review

In GS15-148, Savannah Rugg and Dr. Alexis Racelis studied sustainable pest and weed pressure management. Johnsongrass “costs millions of dollars a year in lost crops, poor quality grain, and lower crop yield.” Grass species of cover crop, sudangrass and pearl millet, with faster growth and higher biomass accumulation, were more successful in weed suppression and growth compared to others. They noted that successful potential is well documented in grass cover crops. Rugg and Racelis did not mention use of glyphosate. 

In ONC18-038, Tom Buller investigated the control of weeds in organic production systems of three fall direct seeded vegetables. Stale seed bedding and possibly occultation were noted as successful weed management methods. Specific applications of stale seed beddings were noted as underexplored. They used a flame weeder for post-germination termination of weeds and a power harrow which turns horizontally to prevent weed seeds from reaching the seed bed’s germination layer. This study implemented non-chemical, minimal tillage weed control practices. 

In LS03-157, Jason Norsworthy investigated the impact of planting a radish cover crop. The study showed increases in yields. This study also looked at weed suppression, specifically outlining Johnsongrass. The results of this soil-incorporated wild radish extract study stated that using this method produced no impact on Johnsongrass at all. In this study, “Glyphosate was applied to kill the cover crops prior to planting sweet corn at Tifton in both years.” 

In LS91-038, Ford Baldwin sought to reduce herbicide inputs. The study aimed to integrate ridge till and in-the-row cultivators with cover cropping. Applying herbicides at half their recommended rate provided equal control of Johnsongrass. Ranking cover crops from most to least effective, the study listed: red clover, ryegrass, oats, wheat, grain rye, hairy vetch, and crimson clover. The study referenced the nonselective, burndown herbicide treatments glufosinate, paraquat, and glyphosate.

In Weed Control in Natural Areas in the Western United States, Dr. Joe DiTomaso says that well-established Johnsongrass is considered too difficult to hand pull. Johnsongrass doesn’t tolerate repetitive low mowing. Repetitive tilling is listed, but the potential for spreading is possible. Culturally, grazing and burning are not effective. Other cultural controls include prevention of seed production and controlling new rhizomes and seedings. There aren’t currently biological controls for Johnsongrass. Chemically, all methods require multiple applications. Some chemical controls are banned in certain states, risk water contamination, and others risk adjacent crop losses. Glyphosate is said to require multiple applications, to be ineffective for spot control, and unaffected in moisture-stressed plants.

Janet Howard’s “Sorghum halepense: Fire Effects Information System” says  that control involves: preventing seed production, killing seedlings and existing rhizomes, and preventing new rhizomes. Integrated management by killing the target plant and establishing another species over the long term is recommended. Heavy grazing is said to only be effective after over 2 years. Herbicides are not effective as a single control. Flooding for 3-6 weeks in early spring is said to be effective. Howard says solarization can control small Johnsongrass infestations and kill off seeds at 140-150 F for 7 days.

The methods for Johnsgrass remediation at the Incubator Farm will differ by implementing no-till, no-spraying, and no fossil fuel machinery practices. Both GS15-148 and ONC18-038 studies lacked herbicides and both indicated success in weed control. Mechanical methods like repetitive mowing are of interest, but we will instead utilize scythes. This study will also attempt to look for phthalate contamination. There is rising concern about phthalate contamination in the soil from the usage of greenhouse poly for solarization in no-till systems. While methods such as solarization are being implemented more and more often into no-till systems, knowledge about possible phthalate contamination from doing so is particularly under-investigated.