Operation Sovereign Wheelbarrow - Winning the War on Weeds

A tale of two Thistles 

Well actually not two, more like two thousand. 

There are a bloody lot of weeds at Fortylegs Farm. We have many varieties. The most common is the Scotch Thistle. There is another thistle I don't know the name of,  a bit of Gorse and the odd fern. The Scotch Thistles are anywhere we have disturbed the ground which is basically one paddock and the really long driveway. 

On New Years Eve at a local neighbourhood party I had the fear of the weed instilled in me. Tales from other organic farms in the district where weeds had been allowed to flourish without any intervention and the consequences of the the inaction. Its not pretty. 

After a bit of thought we came up with a plan. We have decided to attack the thistles first. 

Scotch Thistle in my paddock!

After a bit of research into life cycles it became apparent that the first plan of mowing repeatedly was not going to work. As we are attempting to be completely organic spraying is not a possibility. Seems the best option is "chipping" or removal from the root. The weeds seem to die down through the colder months, however after todays efforts it is obvious that they don't die, they just become dormant. The tap root remains in the ground and continues to grow. They are enormous and today I removed one that was around a foot long. 

Tap root on the scotch thistle 

Over three hours today I managed to remove a ride on mower trailer load. Not bad. Half a paddock clear. Just need to do the very long driveway now and the other half of the paddock. One positive I have discovered is that my pigs really like them. They enjoy the tap roots immensely and love to nibble on the spiny leaves. 

Dottie enjoying a tap root 

Longterm it is apparent that the pasture is in need of minerals and also a grazing plan. This is in the bigger picture, however until the fences are established I can't get some goats to eat them. So for the next foreseeable future my spare time will be spent digging out thistles. The Gorse story will be another blog for another time.