Composting and Worm Farm Elements

Composting and Worm Farm Elements

Tagasaste, chipped and shredded makes an ideal and major compost component. When broken down, the material can be used in potting mixes and also has broad acre applications. Mixed with animal manure of some kind enriches the substance even further. But with or without manure the material encourages the investigation from, and feed for earthworms, which by their presence and habits multiply all the elements needed for healthy plant growth. There are few plants that would not grow in a compost that is created using Tagasaste as the main component. This has some pertinacity to the plant and landscaping industry. It also demonstrates another possible use for large commercial Tagasaste plantations as a renewable compost resource and possible carbon sink.

Chipped and mulched Tagasaste, spread on paddocks in a broad acre situation, without any further processing, with sufficient moisture in the soil to allow earth worms to be present and to feed upon it during the hours of darkness, creates an area rich in nutrients. This manifests itself by the vigorous, prolific and lush grass which stands out from areas where no top dressing of this material has occurred. Evidence of the presence of worms in the form of their holes and earth mounds protruding through the layer of chips to the surface, and the speed with which the mulched material is consumed by these soil enriching creatures is nothing short of amazing. Depending once more, and as always, on the prevailing conditions and the actual worm population, a layer of this material, 75mm thick, can disappear without trace in a fortnight to three weeks. The richness and desirability of pasture that grows where the worms have been active in consuming the material will be unmistakable by the deep green colour of the grasses, and the way the animals will continuously visit and graze it. Resulting in this part of the pasture sward being shorter than that elsewhere in the paddock while, or if grazing animals are in residence.

In truth, Tagasaste is probably a better source of material for soil rejuvenation and fertility depth and expansion than it is a feed for livestock. As a fertilizer it works through feeding the soil organisms that create fertile and healthy soil, though somewhat slower in action than some chemical methods, it is the safest way to incorporate water retaining vegetable matter into the ground. The creation of humus and top soil is increased at the maximum natural rate. Other fertilisers, especially those chemical compounds which are used to feed plants impoverish the soil further because they are not completely balanced and therefore not wholesome.

Tagasaste - A Personal Experience.

Personal Experiences, Observations and Deliberations Concerning Tagasaste.

 

Disclaimers of One Kind or Another

The scribe who has produced this text is not a writer or an author, merely someone who has put together these words from experience in case they might help another.

A text like this is never complete. The reason being that there are all manner of energies flowing, and the change upon the planet, its soils, weather and lifeforms is constant, and that doesn't even go a small way to describe what is happening within the universe. So there will be changes and new discoveries with Tagasaste as with everything else.

There will be disclaimers throughout this text, and there will be all manner of actions, thoughts and ideas not included because they have not been tried due to financial or other restraints, been forgotten, or are so entrenched in habit they are no longer consciously thought about but just done. There will be things repeated, enlarged to better explain a point, or shortened for the sake of brevity, because that happens to be the way of the person attempting to put all this into some kind of order. The purpose of this text is to be of interest, not education. It is without hope or expectation of any kind other than someone might build upon it, and possibly find it engaging.

Throughout these pages Tagasaste has been written in instances with a capital, because it has been and continues to be one of the great buttresses of our tenure in this place. There is nothing that comes to mind which helped us as much as this plant, not only in feeding sheep but in improving the soil of this rather hard land area that has been bestowed upon us by exchanging money for a piece of paper. By attracting butterflies bees and nectar feeding birds and succouring them from its nectaries and many other ways that have filled our lives with some considerable joy as well as easing the financial burden and worry which usually accompanies the kind of lifestyle that we have chosen to embrace.

Some Thoughts

In the 1800's Henry David Thoreau wrote:

By avarice and selfishness, and a groveling habit, from which none of us is free, of regarding the soil as property, or the means of acquiring property chiefly, the landscape is deformed, husbandry is degraded with us, and the farmer leads the meanest of lives. He knows Nature but as a robber.

.............................Henry David Thoreau

The farmer is in many cases worse than the robber, being the cause of land degradation, loss of fertility, erosion of soil and the domino effect these have upon lifestyle of not only their own families but the survival of all living creatures. The iniquities which accompany the current agricultural trends still in vogue in Australia at the time of writing has in the past and continues to this day, to create some serious problems. Some of the symptoms of this imbalance are:

• drought

• less available water

• less wildlife

• less diversity

• greater demand for irrigation, which, if delivered resists better water conservation and use and

• floods finally delivering more water than is required

The above are just some of the afflictions that have been ringing alarm bells in the minds of thinking people for many decades and probably much longer. The use of hormones, antibiotics and unnatural feeds to increase production from animals which we should be trying to keep robust, healthy lifeforms as nature intended, impacts on primary production enormously but on the health of the people that consume it and the planet they live on even more. All the before mentioned are at times catastrophic to not only the individual, but the human race as a whole, though it may only become obvious to most people much further down the road of time when the insidious effects are finally recognised. Cloning and genetically modifying plants and looking ever to do the same with animals and other species to attain the results required, do not demonstrate a state of cleverness, but rather a state of avarice in every situation. Though the justification is that these methods will feed the world; we never see the people of the world, especially where it is required, getting cheaper or free food or health services or being offered a better lifestyle. It does seem like science is tampering with the wheel which has been running true as evolution has perfected, and continues to be tweaked and calibrated to run best as the conditions by the elements of change on and within the planet. A change which is arguably caused by human interference in more than just population growth. Evolution has already created the perfect candidate in animal plant and insect form for the purpose in most instances, though at the current rate of change in our earths conditions, nothing might survive because the changes are becoming too rapid. Changes at this speed are revolution, and too much can be lost and irreparably broken and cause the very base to which we have always been able to return in the past, to be no more.

The need for people to have everything and farmers of any country to produce everything, in this way creating a self sufficient society within each countries is to deny world community. By attempting to produce enough to export these commodities, even to countries that are better suited to produce these commodities themselves, is pure greed and fear. To become the greatest exporters of everything ourselves, in Australia, we must attempt to shape nature and bend it to our will by any method we can. No matter how cruel, unforgiving and interfering to plant, animal and planet it might be or become. The transfer of fodder great distances just to sustain livestock under normal conditions, feedlots and other unnatural environments are all methods that may make money, but produces nothing which is better. Spending of a dollar to make 10 cents profit above that outlay is not a clever strategy. Especially when losing the connection and consideration of the burden as it weighs down:

• the environment

• the well being of the community and individual family

• the animals/plants being husbanded and

• consumes vast resources.

It then becomes an insatiable demon, and usually an obscenely greedy tactic.

All farmers should consider what was said by the UK Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher in 1988:

No generation has a freehold on the earth. All we have is a life tenancy --- with a full repairing lease.

Using fossil fuels, fossil and chemical fertilisers rather than using knowledge to apply natural, less costly but more labour intensive principles and actions to the growing of healthy; not fast, fat food can no longer to be sanctioned except by the unthinking and uncaring individual and/or government. Expensive in monetary terms and damage to the planet inputs of this kind have an ever increasing price scale attached to them, while it is seldom more expensive to make compost and grow plants with it. It is only when we try to unnaturally increase production at the same time make it easier for ourselves that we start to create the mad vortex our community finds itself being forced to pay for and endure at this time. The credo of more and more chemicals, is now slowly being recognised as not being the answer, but rather just a way toward new problems that are being ``addressed'' with more chemicals and creating a veritable flood of problems. Progressive farmers and discerning consumers are looking for less problems, treating causes instead of symptoms and more natural means to resolutions.

Solutions taken from the natural world, from another country or area and imported may create a problem in the short term as well. Though the effect is generally slower acting, and impacts less on the environment of an area, and evolution will take over control without any interference and may be lived with in relative mental and physical ease. But is not ideal either. Many producers, consumers and those that are concerned with the environment are no longer willing to accept the egotistical, profit motivated solutions delivered by tunnel visioned science. Discerning producers and consumers ask science to become rather more researchers and accept the role of explorers and disseminators of discovery rather than what they are or have become, manipulators treating symptoms rather than causes.

At the moment most production increases in agriculture and horticulture rely on the use of greater amounts of off-farm chemical inputs which have consequences more far reaching than just financial dependence. This dependence creates a situation where the profit must be made regardless of conditions, putting pressure on the landholder to push the land, plants and animals harder and to limits that might be unwise and certainly damaging. As farms are taken over by larger and larger companies, land degradation will become worse, as boards of management are never held as responsible as individuals. Most of us have seen this treadmill which will speed up with each new failure of production levels due to lack of some seasonal condition like rain and/or error on the part of the farmer. It does seem that farmers, landholders and graziers are willing to chase their tails with this process. There is also erroneously, seen to be a need for quick fixes as the people who produce commodities attempt to circumvent the results from a volatile climate and/or world trade conditions, as well as fulfil their own perceptions of the income they should be deriving from their enterprise and land area. This is agriculture at its worse, fighting the natural world and becoming a slave to forces that will never relent and increase in strength with time causing escalating stress on all the elements which make up life on earth, people, animals, plants and the planet during the process.

Management practices have to change considerably to turn the current trend not back upon itself, but right angles to its current path and return to something more efficient and rewarding which will be sustainable in the long term. To achieve this, consumers in general and producers in particular must change their thinking. It is the responsibility of the individual, and there are already individuals moving away from this course, both consumer and producer, finding greater satisfaction from their work and time to spend with their family. Consumers don't come out of this without some responsibility, requiring reeducating to see that it's both virtuous and productive to live within the cycle of nature and accept they may not be able to eat autumn harvested fruits in summer, or possibly every summer. This isn't the way people are living in the world currently as humans strive to create an unnatural environment to serve them directly, without thinking and realising the greater world/universe will find this interference as a cancer growing out of control. The behaviour and disregard of the environment and human well being which applies at this time is not going to serve our communities, consumers, producers or the planet and all living organisms which inhabit it, nor make our environment cleaner or better suited to our needs. Though in the short term it may appear that we are benefiting financially, but without living well or as all living things have a right too live we will find disease become more prevalent and new diseases come into being.

Tagasaste can create a small momentum of change and can be a large part of doing things differently, living simply, and comes into the field of agriculture with a profile that could only be described as low key. Because little is known about what it does or how it works and its purpose is just to be, not to answer any of the questions that are being discovered and asked about it every day. Tagasaste is another tool in a management\lifestyle system that will not only assist in increasing production, but will also assist the environment and through that, family values and ideas as well. The plant is useful and a grateful resident of any farming enterprise where soil and animal health is required. Its greatest virtue is assisting with protecting pasture and animals from the elements, increasing soil fertility and substance through soil organism activity as well as a feed additive during the periods where traditionally there is little feed, in particular green fodder for animals which require it.

Tagasaste is also in keeping with attempting to bring down production costs though it cannot achieve this on its own; good management and sound practice in stockmanship and animal husbandry is crucial. By its very nature Tagasaste is extremely versatile and therefore has the potential to become a weed, but wherever animals, either native or domesticated stock have discovered it, there is no danger of it being guilty of transgression. Wherever grazing and browsing animals know it and can access it the plant is always at risk of becoming an endangered species and though it has a wonderful, fecund system of reproduction, it is its very palatability and usefulness as a soil conditioner or firewood keeps it from getting out of hand. In the pasture as well as in the wild.

While there are some very useful plants in the arsenal of those who would create habitats for wildlife especially birds, Tagasaste serves with purpose and some considerable success in this role as well. Those that would create windbreaks and shade to protect the moisture in the top layer of soil, are also directed to the growing and use of this plant. Those who would enhance the nutritional content, diversity and availability of feed for their stock, should look very closely at and take time to study Tagasaste. Those who would want to use their tractors less often to work the soil because of the problems inherent with cultivation, such as the rising cost of fuel and more demands on time, should find Tagasaste very interesting. For organic farmers, Tagasaste appears to be the plant of choice. There are few plants that are as caring of the soil, or produce as much that will enrich it directly, quickly and is valuable if planted even before stock are run on it or plants inserted into it.

To create an environment that will allow animals to feel secure and comfortable with sufficient feed to assist with maintaining their health can be difficult in some areas of this continent and it is in this arena Tagasaste is a great champion. The following text is an attempt to show how it has been discovered to be so. These writings of experience and observation are not a rail to run upon. But rather a signpost toward exploration and opportunity to branch from to discover more and better ways of allowing nature to take a hand in improving the land for which we find ourselves responsible in our lifetimes, and rely upon for the production of food.

 Greenhouse Gases

It is well known that growing trees take up the greatest amount of greenhouse gases and turn these alien materials of the air into living carbon material, wood, bark and foliage. These can then be composted, turned into animal/worm food and/or placed upon or into the ground to enrich the earth to grow more greenhouse gas absorbing plants which in turn can be used for building materials and/or food for what appears to be an ever increasing population. In this way cleaning the air and locking up the carbon, changing it into something of use so it's not polluting what we and all living things require to breathe. But humans are looking at using technology to remove the carbon where it is produced and then pumping it into the earth, sequestering it underground, trapping it there, where it still could escape back into the air because it has not changed form. Is still the same pollutant and still able to return and create conditions even worse than now as well as taking a great deal more fuel, power and effort to try to contain within the earth.

The science of some of these ideas may sound good, and it might even create jobs, but as most things that science puts forward, it is an ego trip, the difficult way to do a thing, and it needs too much technology and materials to be manufactured creating more problems and greenhouse gases in the process. To do it natures way, is grow trees and other plants harvest the carbon material with animals and soil flora and fauna, in this way create food and a richer nutrient base to grow more food and materials for shelter that will create a benefit for all species.

Introduction to Tagasaste

Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) has been in Australia since the late 1800's and as with anything that comes in contact with human beings, a great deal of myth and misconception has been allowed to develop around the plant over this considerable time. The history and introduction of Tagasaste into Australia, or as it was known then, Tree Lucerne, is not the point of this deliberation. That is well described in other publications and there is little advantage in repeating the information here.

This is not a definitive work, but text outlining a practical application for the use of this plant, a description of what has been experienced in the model we used to run sheep on a smaller scale than most properties, in some very marginal country. In a location where the rain is both unreliable and unpredictable, therefore needing something to deliver an edge over these obvious disadvantages. This work is a description of multiple use of a valuable, supplementary fodder crop which made it possible for us to keep our sheep healthy, productive and increase the amount of animals that might otherwise be maintained at such a level of competence and all its other attributes we have discovered.

Tagasaste is a small tree or large shrub with many endearing features, and some will say it is of attractive appearance though this isn't its purpose for our need, that description would be accurate. For those who wish to know more about the specifics of the plant, there is work done by others better qualified to this task. A very good source of this information was written by Laurence Snook, for which he was little recognised, a work which was found to be interesting and encouraging even though we had already begun the work with the tree before we had been pointed to this publication. It has been said that Laurence Snook is the father of Tagasaste in Australia, but the timing was not right for people to understand what he was showing them. The time might not be right just now either, but there are more troubles in the world of agriculture than was the case when Laurence Snook saw and investigated the potential of this plant.

The book is:-
''Tagasaste Tree Lucerne - High production fodder crop.''
By Laurence Snook

The place where Tagasaste was seen and which really created the first interest was the permaculture books. They described the plant and it seemed sensible that it should be looked at more closely though not in the permaculture context, as this required a great deal more water than was available to us. There were so many plants mentioned in these books, all of use, all valuable, but none with the huge potential of this plant.

Our acquaintance with Tagasaste was brought about of necessity. As explained above, the land we chose to live upon was marginal, ``hungry'', as described in the old Australian way. Grazing was the only possible option to utilise the sparse, rough grass species growing in what most people would hardly describe as soil. Without water other than that which fell from the sky there was no other enterprise discovered which would enrich the soil, leaving the land in better health than we found it as well as keep the fire hazard at a reasonable level. Merino sheep, the only species to survive and thrive under these conditions, apart from goats, the latter ruled out because they were voracious and therefore destructive feeders, could find the grass species suitable to remain hearty, breed and produce a useful product, in this instance wool, to the best ability of their bloodline.

We found Tagasaste a fast growing perennial plant even in the harsh conditions we offered when we brought it here; able to grow, even thriving in the dry, infertile and rocky soils that were predominant on this property amongst the hills. Unable to purchase fertilizer or any kind of soil or plant nutrient due to financial restraints, began the way we would continue. We were to remain aloof from chemical use; yet the tree grew and in most cases thrived wherever it was planted as a seedling or its seed was deposited. So much so in fact, there were those in the local area that seeing it take off at first declared it a weed, with little knowledge of it or what we were doing. Without knowing the plant and its vulnerability to grazing or palatability to all grazing and browsing animals, including the native animals which started to recognise this new plant as a source of feed, the critics were in error from the very beginning. Possums and kangaroos discovered Tagasaste after the wallabies, and the bronze wing pigeons and Rosella's of various types relished and thrived on its seed. The critics had seen individual trees growing in many places and didn't observe that as long as there were native animals or domesticated stock, the trees never got out of hand and never had any young seedlings or trees around them.

Astounding is the only way to describe the adaptability of the plant and with this knowledge it was feasible to attempt to use Tagasaste as the supplementary feed source upon which to build and sustain a small sheep breeding and wool growing enterprise. The experiences of this are written here and not really anything but just that; practical experience. These must be tempered to each environment, soil type, availability of machinery and how much work is to be done or can be allocated to all aspects of this, and under each personal and various climatic conditions the result will be different. There have been those that declared: ``it all looked too much like hard work.''

It is opportune to mention that out model was small. Those owning or managing larger acreages would benefit in greater volume, possibly by the same percentage or more from the ideas described within these covers. It must also be noted that we did not do anything with soil manipulation machinery, we have none, and we have no land which any reasonable farm machinery could work upon without falling over.We used only hand tools.

Some General Background

It was the hedgerow system as used in England and read about in various books that showed the way things might be accomplished in this experiment. There was ever the problem of trees growing in that green, moist land of England, Europe and in the case of Tagasaste, the Canary Islands, would not manage at all well here, which seemed to suggest failure right from the beginning. Most groups wishing to reforest or re-vegetate areas used a system of growing mainly trees and restricting the species to only natives which seemed short sighted, and this credo appeared to be cast in iron and set in stone. Anything so rigid in an ever changing world has to be flawed at the very core. Almost everything in commercial production in Australia was from another land, and yet no one sensed the strangeness of attempting the impossible of recreating the things native that would sustain few if any of these enterprises. But would return the land to supporting fewer people. Even the first nation people utilised the things that were imported by the people of the first fleet and grew strong on them. The incongruous idea, since phosphate fertiliser and other management practices like land clearing changed the countryside, should return to anything described and categorised as native seemed an affectation, being faddish and should not be taken seriously, but it was of course. There was an entire government initiative that had people spraying poison to kill plants which were adapting to conditions in which they found themselves, in many cases better than the native plants. Even the aborigines died of famine when everything on the continent was native and the country never supported the population with which white settlement has loaded it. This push for native without looking wider for solutions, seemed to be negative, even regressive in the worst possible way. If this thinking had a place it was in the ornamental gardens, but not as a system that would produce sufficient food to feed the animals and population of Australia at current numbers with enough to export. Native animals thrived on these new plants as did the domesticated stock, but the movement was to plant more native species. This was not to be sanctioned here.

One of the reasons the land on this continent was so poor it seemed, was because of the flora that occupied the land surface before white settlement, not just the age of the soil as suggested by science, though this was maybe why only this type of flora overpowered all others and maintained it so. There were plants brought in from other countries that found they could not only endure but thrive in these conditions as well, and because they thrived, just like the white population, the rodents and other things described as pests; were hated, and every attempt made to exterminate them. The irony of this went unnoticed by the majority of re-vegetation groups privately formed or created by government.

With the above in mind, what would be required to restore fertility to this soil? Sheep produced very good manure, rich enough to create nettle and thistle infested areas where they created manure stockpiles on their night camps. These were overly rich because of a fertility transfer quite natural due to the habits of the animal. What would be the result if this manure were more evenly distributed or the animals so guided that they camped where the the soil was poorest and delivered from the rich land to the poorer this desirable nutrient? A wider fairer distribution of nutrient wealth would occur. These vague ideas created a system we named the Serengeti system of animal husbandry. It incorporated electric fencing to divide the pasture and contain the animals where required, creating a situation where animals would be rotated over the landscape much in the way animals move over the Serengeti plain. But having only one type of animal that utilised all the types of pasture and browse, we needed to top pasture that was getting away by some method of mowing to keep it green and growing. A brush cutter is a handy tool for this on a small scale, but not for larger areas unless there is also a larger labour pool.

More is required than just the manure, different and useful plant species which would aid with alleviating wind strength and speed in an area where the evaporation rate is much higher than the rainfall totals for the year and protection from the considerable heat of the sun had to be found. Tagasaste in a permaculture book seemed to deliver the main hedgerow plant into our seeking minds and it all started to take on order of a sort. Evolution, as with everything in the world, played the most valuable part of what was going to happen. We were now on a quest to try to improve the land society said, we owned because we exchanged money for the title. We knew ``improve'' was a very subjective and prejudiced view but if we could create greater soil fertility and fecundity it would be different at least. Even if it was only a difference to what had been left after the ravages of mining, consequent erosion and overgrazing.

The first Tagasaste trees were planted in what was a more damp area, and as ever, it showed that we didn't know enough about the plant so some study was required. Most of the 20 trees perished in a wet, frosty winter. This when the winters were still wet in this area; something that changed over time. Six trees survived however, and some of these still survive today and are over 30 years old. From these surviving trees were harvested the first generation seed which would be slightly better adapted to this area and these conditions because their parents survived. These we called mother trees and they produced Tagasaste native trees, no longer could they reasonably be described as exotics. The progeny of the naturalised trees were germinated and grown in a shade house, and later after they had been planted out and produced seed of their own and it was also harvested and the plants from these seeds were even better adapted to the area; and even more important, those in turn also produced seed more adapted to the area in which they were again planted. Each generation producing trees in turn, more acclimatised to this district, and so it continued. Generation after generation of trees adjusting to the area, its changing weather conditions and environment with each new flush of seed produced from the youngest, newest plants to seed. These were then the native Tagasaste trees.

First Planting Trial

The first attempt at growing Tagasaste in the paddock was done without protecting the individual trees but the paddock locked up excluding all domestic stock for 18 months, thus allowing the trees to reach a height of 1.5 metres or a little more. These were trees with single trunks. During the period the paddock was locked up the sheep had constant and unrestrained access to mineral licks and dry mineral supplements as they did every year. We learned a few lessons by using this method of establishing a paddock of Tagasaste, one being that Yorkshire Fog grass took over the paddock and effectively smothered most other species during the time the sheep were excluded. Once the sheep were introduced another lesson learned was that we should never again grow free standing trees on single stems, and that multiple stemmed trees might not look as aesthetically pleasing but they had a greater chance of survival where there was no other protection. We now knew the tree bark was highly desirable, even though in some books it stated that animals might only attack the bark of the trees if they were deprived of minerals. But the main lesson was: anything which had been previously written or spoken about Tagasaste had to be, like everything else with any kind of agricultural pursuit, be questioned and tested. This applies to this text as well. We learned each situation differs from another and there are no hard and fast rules and no average years.

Locking up a paddock for an extended period was not necessarily a good thing as can be seen from the experience outlined above. But it taught us that Tagasaste was an endangered species if browsing and grazing animals which recognised the plant were allowed free access to it in this vulnerable single stemmed form. It was patently obvious that beauty in this case as in many instances in life, wasn't what it might appear to be, and could even be a serious handicap.

A rotational grazing system through small paddocks was already in practice on part of the property, as was the use of electric tapes for experimentation of what we called the Serengeti system, which became more widely known under the label of cell grazing. This system placed greater pressure on the unguarded trees within the taped area and proved disastrous. A fencing and growing system that would prevent the sheep from having free access to the trees had to be devised, as well as a tree form that would minimise the effect of bark stripping for trees that were to be grown free standing or where stock might breach a fence to ensure Tagasaste didn't become an annual plant without being able seed and replace itself.

General Management

The general management of Tagasaste for a grazing enterprise will be trial and error right from the beginning, no matter where it is undertaken. This document is not designed to suggest any hard and fast rules or certain answers, because there are none. Innovation is important and should be pursued. Trying to keep the tree growing vigorously, and cutting the maximum of feed from the plant during its lifetime should be the aim of any enterprise that uses this relatively short lived pioneer plant. Always remembering to allow the tree a period of rest for its own recovery and as a moral obligation with regard and appreciation of its contribution to any enterprise.

Managing the tree for seed production required less frequent cutting. The tree still required cutting back in late summer of the season prior to the seed harvest to ensure greater quantities of hard coated, black seeds the following summer. This last serious pruning for feed, also encouraged copious autumn foliage to grow into winter and early spring to produce more abundant blossom, half of which will become the pods containing the seed. Where a reasonable spring season is expected, the tree can be cut in the middle of winter and still produce a mass of seed pods. But where there is never any guarantee of a reasonable rainfall in spring the tree is best left alone to produce seed on established branches. After the seed has been harvested, the tree should be cut back as normal.

In an area like ours, which has very cold winters but where the daylight hours still deliver a considerable amount of sunshine, even though the temperature is low, cutting the branches of trees not being specifically saved for seed production to their lowest practical height in autumn is advantageous. It must be noted here again, that branches should never be cut below the new wood at any time. Cutting back in autumn and winter ensures that the sun and light can reach the pasture or soil, warming it in preparation for seed germination after any rainfall. This effect is especially important during the very early spring to encourage the grass to grow and pasture seeds to germinate sooner rather than later. A shade mulch which is very desirable in the heat of summer is not desirable during the cold winter period. In effect, cutting the trees in autumn emulates a deciduous tree.

As the pasture grows in spring, so does the Tagasaste and as the sun gets stronger and the equinoctial gales are strongest the pasture is shaded and sheltered by the now dense foliage of the tree to be cut for feed at a later date. It is good practice during the hotter months of summer to cut the trees back only marginally to maintain the most shade possible to protect the pasture from the hot, drying effects of not only the sun but also the wind. This cossets and preserves green, growing pasture longer. This especially so on northern facing slopes which are the really hot, dry slopes in our hemisphere and during the hottest months. Much of which grows on this aspect benefits enormously from a shade mulch.

When the grass dries, losing its colour and stops growing, usually at summers zenith, is a good time to cut the foliage of the Tagasaste trees to supply the green feed which grazing/browsing animals require for optimum health. It might be advantageous in some circumstances to cut the trees during the hottest months, permitting the sun to heat the soil as well as dry and sterilize the manure of the animals to kill many internal parasite eggs and larvae which it may contain. Cutting the trees hard at the beginning of autumn allows the soil to remain warm when and if the autumnal rains arrive. After any rain of sufficient quantity, the pasture seed will be activated as it comes in contact with moisture, the second element it requires to germinate. This warm, moist seed bed will also start any dormant perennial pasture plants growing vigorously from the roots, ensuring a sward of green grass over the winter period, and the Tagasaste trees will be one of the first plants to respond to any moisture of course.

In areas where the sun is not so constant and therefore the soil is cooler and holds more moisture, such as southern facing slopes in this hemisphere, the trees can be cut earlier and more drastically for fodder allowing stock numbers to be increased, or normal numbers to be retained longer in a paddock in these conditions or aspect. By cutting earlier and keeping stock in the paddocks longer in early spring, it is possible to husband the pasture in other paddocks so it may grow longer, but not be permitted to seed, before the stock are allowed access, or where it's possible to do so, lock the paddock up for hay production. Holding the stock longer in paddocks in early spring, when there is still rain to come, stimulates the pasture plants, and delivers a greater amount of nutrient for these plants from the manure. Feeding Tagasaste as a supplementary feed during their extended sojourn in these paddocks also increases the application of manure before the producers of this bounty to plants are moved onto new pasture.

The sooner the tree is cut after it has grown a sufficient foliage volume to benefit animals, the better. Tagasaste is one plant that appears to thrive on sensible abuse and with this management regime reacts like an annual plant, growing vigorously to attain a stage where flowering can occur and seed be set. The more it is cut, the greater its growth as it attempts to produce flowers and seed. Cutting the foliage often ensures that the tree doesn't become stalky with thick, woody branches, maintaining rather the soft close growing leaf mass which is preferred by all animals accustomed to the plant. It must be remembered that the thick woody branches, when cut, are clothed in bark that is relished as well, and in some instances more desirable than the foliage by all grazing and browsing animals.

Tagasaste not grown in a hedgerow system can be allowed to self seed. This ensures a good seed bank in the soil and new plants to replace those getting too old and no longer producing the maximum foliage for fodder. It also produces seedlings that will be relished by the stock once they attain sufficient height for the stock to graze if they are not required for replacement. Old, less than optimum productive trees can be heavily browsed. If an entire enclosed hedgerow is to be grazed before the trees are cut down and the seed which will produce the replacement plants are allowed to germinate, the fence can be temporarily lifted or opened to allow stock access or removed for a period of some months to permit the animals access to all that has grown within that area. The trees may also be cut, sectioned and thrown over the fence from the hedgerow to allow faster development of the seedlings that have already or will in the future volunteer where the old trees being discarded were once present. This is usually the best way for speedy replacement especially where it's required when the weather seems like it will deliver the best conditions to get the new seedlings established. As with all dealings with the natural world, plants or animals, working with nature makes the job easier, less stressful and delivers better results.

There is usually a well stocked seed bank in the soil under and around where the trees have been grown for many years if they have been permitted to seed periodically. In case of doubt, the trees can be allowed to seed one last time before they are heavily grazed and permanently removed. Once locked up again, the paddock or hedgerow may be left alone and the new seedlings will once more create a greater fodder reserve than if the land area was used for pasture alone. The young trees can be culled as required to allow a more generous a amount of space between them. As ever, any trees cut down make excellent fodder and what is left is a very satisfactory source of firewood.

If the trees to be removed are sectioned into smaller more manageable pieces of firewood size, it will allow the animals access to all the foliage and bark, and can be turned when visiting the paddock to make all sides of the larger trunks and branches accessible to the stock. If no other alternative is available for the branches too large or awkward to mulch, these can be burnt in situ where the ash bed, high in potassium and phosphorous, will be an ideal food source for the pasture, Tagasaste or other seed. Tagasaste seed will probably be the first to respond after any work done, as it is after all a pioneer plant and by nature suited and adapted for this very purpose. Burning is never the preferred option however, as too much nutrient is lost and the smoke is after all a pollutant no matter how rich in nutrient it might be. Any remaining nitrogen in the timber being the first casualty of fire and resident within the smoke. No matter what system of disposal is chosen, as can be seen from certain sections of this text, even dead trees have some very practical uses.

The cut, dead Tagasaste trees or even just the larger branches make good guards for the young growing seedlings of its own or other species. Stacking the branches of Tagasaste can be a barrier to the sheep, and the young trees will grow through the centre of this heap, protected from hungry and exploring mouths. These dry limbs or those slowly drying out in the sun, even though stock will have removed most of the bark, will also deliver some nitrogen to the grass and seedlings growing beneath them. This is manifest by the lush green colour of anything growing under these branches that have been left on the ground after being cut and anything edible eaten by the sheep. Once the Tagasaste protected, cosseted trees or pasture is sufficiently established, the barrier to animals can be removed or better still, allowed to rot where it is still providing protection and adding nutrient in the form of organic matter to the soil, albeit slowly. If the protective web of branches is removed when the tree is sufficiently out of reach or interest of the stock, the grasses which have set seed and germinated during the growth of the protected target tree will be available to the animals allowed into the paddock. These pasture grasses will also have produced seed during the period of protection, which will have blown out into the wider area increasing the seed bank within the soil around them, making certain that their species is also preserved. This of course is only desirable if the grass is of a kind that is beneficial to the overall enterprise. Using Tagasaste branches as protection for other plants is an ideal way to produce seed of the right species without locking up the entire paddock.

Areas cleared of old trees in a free standing or non protected hedgerow paddock design will require to be locked up for a period for the seeds to germinate and the seedlings to survive. Depending on environment and seasonal conditions, the time required for this varies, but a rule of thumb is to allow 12 months before the stock are once more permitted access. In better conditions this period might be reduced. In conditions that are worse than normal with feed in short supply and expensive to buy in severe environmental conditions this period can also be less. But some damage will occur, and the setback to the trees might not be worth the short term gain. However, as the seed of Tagasaste is hard coated, and if the area is where Tagasaste has been previously grown, there is a good chance that some seed will have remained dormant in the soil and germinate at a later date, thus replacing those plants that have been devoured and destroyed. Each region/area in which the property is located and location in the paddock of the property will be different. Only experimentation will indicate the best results in every instance and it cannot be stressed enough, that the manager experienced and responsible for pasture and stock will be best suited to tweak the system year by year.

So, depending on the management of the plant, the paddock, the prevailing weather conditions and any other idiosyncratic factors that apply to a property or manager, Tagasaste will be available all year round as a supplementary feed. Making it possible to increase the stocking rate paddock by paddock and the property on the whole, or to hold old stock longer if the market price is poor, or just to save on feed costs in a dry or drought period, as well as all the other applications for which it is renown.

Uses

Apart from the production of fodder for all browsing grazing or omnivorous animals.

Tagasaste is used for:

• green feed for poultry
• worm food and bedding
• composted for use as mulch or top dressing of soil much like a fertilizer
• a potting medium with nursery application
• as green feed for domestic rabbits
• horse feed - as they apparently do particularly well on it
• a fast growing windbreak
• living and dead as a tree guard for fruit or other trees
• a hot, fast burning firewood
• nitrogen fixer
• ideal shade and shelter - for plants and animals that require such conditions to thrive
• fire retardant because it being evergreen and without any oil content in the leaves

These are not all the uses of Tagasaste, but rather those limited by our lack of imagination, over abundance of forgetfulness or taking things for granted that should be included here, or constraints to further experimentation. The use of Tagasaste as silage or stored fodder has been beyond our financial resources or land type to trial. The use of Tagasaste as a cover crop for Ginseng has not gone well, due to the inability to irrigate this beneficial medicinal herb. The areas rainfall being, as stated earlier, unreliable and erratic and no irrigation possible.

Suitable Soil

Tagasaste trees love a drier, rocky aspect in which to grow. Thriving in conditions that other plants would consider difficult or extreme. Being a pioneer plant, which is one that grows in places where the soil has been impoverished and made bare, its purpose is to begin protecting and enriching its host with its growing habit, even its very presence. Pioneer plants are natures first settler and repair element wherever the earth has been damaged. Tagasaste will do very well on rich as poor soil. However, in the case of the former, the trees are capable of producing more foliage and grow faster, but no matter what kind of soil type or quality, the nutritional value of the plant depends on nutrient and water available in the soil. Wetter soil may appear richer in nutrient which is in fact diluted, but may create more dry matter. This making the plant something like a boarding house cup of tea: big and weak. The plant is very drought tolerant yet for the best results sufficient water and a PH suitable to allow uptake of all the necessary elements in the soil should be available if vigorous growth for feed or any other reason is desired. This scribe has no knowledge of a study which has been conducted, to say that plants with less water will have less foliage, or which situation may create more nutrient rich foliage per dry matter mass. It could be possible, as is often the case with oil content of herbs grown in tougher, drier areas, that in drier conditions the plant foliage and bark may have more nutrient per dry matter than in wetter conditions? In an ideal situation the foliage will be greater in volume and hopefully richer in available nutrients if grown where water is sufficient to allow the plant a growth rate to acquire its full potential. But it could well be the case that pasture plants such as lucerne or brassica summer crops may make more effective use of soil where water is abundant. It is the rough, rocky, arid and marginal areas that suit best the growing of Tagasaste, and where the plant is most advantageous and therefore valued.

As with all plants and mentioned above, the foliage of Tagasaste is as nutrient rich as the soil in which it grows permits. The elements required for desirable growth rates and nutritional quality can sometimes be found in soils that appear on the surface to be deficient, yet still accessed because the roots of the tree go deep into the ground as it seeks what it needs. If water is not plentiful enough to make the plant grow vigorously, the soil may still contain sufficient moisture necessary to take up the elements for good quality feed. Hard and fast rules do not exist, there is much of the ``suck it and see'' attitude to be applied to Tagasaste, its use and application.

Though renowned for growing in these dry soils, there is anecdotal evidence which suggests Tagasaste will also grow into swamps, slowly sending seed into the wetter ground, where most of the seed will rot, but some will find the environment congenial. Like all plants Tagasaste trees evolve through the seed they produce, and if the plant grows in and the seed constantly falls on damp saturated ground, some of them will contain an ability to grow in these conditions disagreeable to most of their kind. Over a long period of time there will be more and more seeds produced which are better able to live in these usually adverse conditions, and from being a plant which loves the dry areas the tree will evolve and become one that enjoys the wetter even swampy environment. It would be natural to assume of the many thousands of seed produced by each tree, there would be a few that could survive conditions that are normally not suited to the parent plant.

Tagasaste can be grown as an under storey plant with eucalypt species. Again, because it is both adaptable and versatile it will grow, but very differently from when it's not shaded and competing with another species. It will depend on the density of both the established eucalyptus trees and the Tagasaste that are to grow beneath them, soil conditions, moisture and such things which will ultimately dictate how well the trees grow in such an environment. The growth rate of the Tagasaste grown as an under storey of any larger established plants is naturally slower. This will not be too obvious after they are well established, but they can be expected to take two years longer to become fully productive and their foliage output will be less for the period of their lifetime. For the purpose of cutting to hand feed animals, Tagasaste are best grown with their own kind or stand alone with the benefit of full sun. [this far to Ausgarden]

Cutting Tagasaste

The action of cutting Tagasaste should be described as there are several ways to prune the tree of cut feed from it. Wherever cut the tree should, like all plants that are to continue growing from that limb, be cut only in the new wood. The old wood will not, or will experience difficulty bringing out new shoots to quickly replace what has been removed. The new wood is responsive to this, and for that reason powered hedge trimmers are never used more than once before a pair of secateurs or loppers is again employed, to bring the branches back closer to the trunk. There should be little need to mention that all cutting instruments of whatever kind are used, should be sharp and clean. Wherever the branch is cut, it will be stimulated to grow vigorously from close to that injury the plant will produce more branches and foliage and grow more intensely than elsewhere in the canopy.

 

Tagasaste seed treatment

Tagasaste produces a hard coated seed and should be heat treated if a reasonably uniform germination is desired or required, as is usually the case for any commercial planting. This hard coat is actually the way that the plant protects itself from shooting its last bolt at the wrong time in the survival stakes. There will always be some seed from every year that will take a longer time to germinate, ensuring that deceitful weather conditions do not trigger germination. Then follow with a dry period that will kill the young seedlings before they have a chance to get a grip deep, into the earth from which they might take succour. To circumvent this situation, softening the seed coat will allow all the seed to germinate uniformly.

The most effective way to treat the seed, is to place the seed into a container, and pour boiling water over it, allowing it to soak overnight. The volume of water should be at least twice as much as the seed being treated, as the water is absorbed by the seed once the hard coat has been softened, making it double in size. Any seeds that don't swell, can be safely assumed to be unviable, and removed, though this isn't necessarily the case or required in most situations. Some seed which has had its coat breached by insect attack, may be killed by this process, but these would are generally few in number.

Another method, actually boiling the seed for 60 seconds certainly kills many more seeds. Smoke, which has been used to activate Australian native seeds with a hard coat, has not been trialled but might also deliver the desired result. The first method described here has been found to be very successful, with a 90% plus germination rate with our own seed, and we have stayed with this successful formula.

The soaked seed should then be strained into a colander or sieve, and washed while it is thus contained in or under clean, cold water to remove any growth inhibitors that may still remain. At this stage the seed is fragile, so strong jets of water or vigorous agitation should be avoided. Just agitating the seed in a bucket of water will suffice to wash it effectively.

The washed seed can then be inoculated with the Tagasaste root bacteria, which will produce the nitrogen storing nodules on the roots of the plants. A mixture of gum Arabic, or sugar water, the nodule bacteria and Tagasaste seed can be combined and mixed thoroughly, but gently. The gum Arabic or sugared syrup will assist in adhering the bacteria to the treated seed and once this has been done, the coated seed can then be spread onto newspaper to dry.

The seed should be sown as soon as possible after it is dry, to ensure that the inoculum is still alive. There is a school of thought that suggests the seed can be stored for a fortnight after the above treatment, but experience shows this is to long. A week would be the maximum time to store the inoculated seed, however, the less time treated seed is stored, the fresher is the seed and the bacteria and the better it will be. Once the seed has been activated by this procedure it is ready to germinate, and it is not going to benefit from delay before planting.

If conditions, or circumstance dictates, seed can be sown without first heat treating it. The seed will crack its own coat when the conditions are right. Then it can be inoculated by watering the area with the bacteria in a slurry. This method will mean an infrequent and uneven germination over a long period, even years, which might not be desirable. After 12 to 18 months, there will be some seed still germinating, but they will be few, and the earlier seedlings will be well established and appear reasonably uniform after three years.

Ants love the seed, after treatment or just as they are expelled from the pod by the tree. If ants are a considerable, vexatious problem the seed can be coated in clay. The treated seed can be coated before drying by gently moving it over a tray while dry crushed clay is dusted over it, thus encapsulating it in a protective, environmental friendly disguise.

Tagasaste-Soil conditions

Tagasaste trees love a drier aspect in which to grow. They seem to thrive on punishment, but do just as well, or possibly better on rich soil. In each case this also depends on water availability sunshine and various other factors that affect plants in general. There is no suggestion that the foliage produced in either circumstance is superior in nutrient content, but will naturally provide more bulk if all the conditions are optimum, and if certain elements are in the ground ans not locked up, will be included in the plants physical makeup. However, on richer soil, there are other plants that would maximise the use of the resource better, such as pasture lucerne or grain, especially if the land is suitable for the safe use of machinery. So it is the rough, rocky, arid, steep, marginal areas that suit Tagasaste best, and where it is most valuable.

As with all plants Tagasaste is as nutrient rich as the soil in which it grows, permits. A well-balanced soil with all the trace elements and main components required for growth, a neutral PH soil with sufficient water, will allow the plants to take up all the required elements. The result will be foliage and bark which is a nutritious feed for all grazing and browsing animals familiar with the plant. The roots of the tree go deep, seeking what it requires and its ability to survive is testament to its root exploration. If water is not plentiful enough to make the plant grow vigorously, it may still contain the necessary elements for good feed, but with a lower dry matter content.

Though renown for growing in these dry conditions, Tagasaste will also march into and grow in swamps. Plants that do well in the dry conditions of preference will perish if they find themselves with wet feet for any length of time. If the trees are to be grown in an environment which is more waterlogged, the seed should be sown into a soil mix, much like that in which the trees are to grow. The percentage of germination might be the same, but those that survive will be very much lower as most of the young seedlings will rot. But within a kilogram of Tagasaste seed [approx 30,000] there is contained a number that will have the makeup allowing them to endure conditions that are not usually considered ideal.

Because of its versatility, Tagasaste can be grown as an under storey plant with eucalyptus. It will depend on the density of plants, both the established native trees, and the Tagasaste that are to grow beneath them, soil conditions, and moisture, that will dictate how the Tagasaste trees grow in such an environment. The initial growth rate of the trees grown as an under storey of any larger plants, is naturally slower. This will not be evident after they are well established, but they can be expected to take two years longer to become fully productive.

Tagasaste......Composting

Tagasaste, chipped and shredded makes an ideal and major compost component. When broken down, the material can be used in potting mixes and also has broad acre applications. Mixed with animal manure's which enriches the substance, even further, encouraged the occupation of earth worms, which by their beneficial habitation multiply all the elements needed for healthy plant growth. There are no known plants that would not grow in a compost created using Tagasaste as one of its main components.

Chipped and mulched material like this used on paddocks in a broad acre situation, or small areas, with sufficient moisture to allow earth worms to come out of the ground and feed upon it during the hours of darkness. Creates an area rich in nutrients, usually manifested by prolific growth of the grass. The signs being greater vigor and lushness of leaf than areas where the material has been withheld, or was insufficient to be added. Evidence of the presence and activity of earthworms in the form of their holes and small earth mounds through the layer of chips is nothing short of amazing. Depending once more, and as always, on the prevailing conditions, the actual worm population, a layer of this material three inches [75mm] thick, can disappear without trace in a matter of days if the worm population is sufficient.

This enhanced profusion and desirability of pasture where the worms have been active will be unmistakable by the deep green colour of the grasses, and the way the animals will continue to visit and graze it. Resulting in this part of the pasture sward being shorter than that elsewhere in the paddock or field while the animals are in residence.

In truth, Tagasaste is probably a better source of material for soil rejuvenation and fertility expansion, than it is even as a feed for animals. As a fertilizer, it works through feeding the soil organisms [flora and fauna] that create fertility and health in the soil, somewhat slower in action than some chemical methods, it is the safest way to incorporate water retaining vegetable matter into the ground. The creation of humus volume is increased, and topsoil created at the maximum natural rate.