Exciting news on the planting front! Our first plantings of tomatoes are in, as are the basil and the first summer squash, melons, and peppers. Even more exciting though is that we’ve recently planted two new hedgerows!
A hedgerow is a dense row of plants along a road, fence, field edge, or other non-cropped area and can include trees, shrubs, grasses, forbs, and other plants. They can bring a number of benefits to the farm. These benefits include: habitat for pollinators, beneficial insects, and other wildlife; a living barrier or fence; a windbreak; controlling erosion; buffering against dust; sequestering carbon; and more! A hedgerow can include just about anything but the goal of the hedgerow will impact how it’s designed and the plants it includes.
We have a long history with hedgerows; they’ve been an important part of the farm almost since the beginning and can be found around most of our fields. The photo above is one of our older, well-established hedgerows. Our main focus has been creating habitat for beneficial species, encompassing both pollinators as well as birds, insects, and reptiles that prey on pest species. They provide undisturbed places for these species to live, and sources of food (pollen and nectar). With careful planning and plant selection, making sure that there’s a year-round food source for beneficial insects, we have created an inviting place for many species to live. So in addition to growing lots of tasty fruits and vegetables, we’re also growing hedgerows and habitat and increasing the biodiversity and resilience of the farm.
While they do shrink our available field space, especially once fully grown, they compliment our production spaces, both in terms of appearance and function. Judith, who designed and planted many of ours, explained it best a number of years ago: “in addition to their practical purpose, the native plantings, with red toyon berries in the winter, early spring redbud flowers, and white snowberries in the fall are pleasing to everyone. We’re willing to take farm-time to care for them because we enjoy them.”
We now have two new hedgerows! One is 1000 feet along Highway 16 at the southern end of the farm, what used to be an almond orchard (removed in 2023) and currently is our flower field. It’s a mix of larger trees, spaced out every 30 feet, with smaller plants in between. It’s also a mix of native plants (like white sage and buckwheat) and ornamental plants (including euphorbia). This will provide a nice visual accent to the field and form a bit of a barrier with the highway, while still being a source of valuable habitat.
The other hedgerow runs for about 300 feet between the Kitchen and Highway 16, bordering a field currently growing wheat. This only has native plants and is a mix of trees (including some acorns that Paul planted last year) and large shrubs. It’ll be a bigger, bushier hedgerow once established, great for bird habitat.
These hedgerows projects were designed and spearheaded by Lyla Schoenig, our new Events and Education Manager, who comes from a restoration background, most recently working for the Solano Resource Conservation District. The large hedgerow was planted by our team and the shorter one was planted by the Sheldon High School FFA group. All plants have been mulched with compost and have a drip irrigation system set up to help the plants get established. After a few years, we’ll stop irrigating them and hopefully have two beautiful thriving hedgerows for many years to come!
Come see our hedgerows, both new and old, this upcoming weekend at our CSA Open Farm Day and/or the following weekend during the Rustic Ramble! More information about both events can be found below.
Elaine Swiedler, CSA Manager
