Many bad things have happened to our earth. Now it is time for the Indians to teach the white man how to live as one with the earth and each other. “People of the Falls” Mural Artist Michael Paul (1934-1993)
The Spring of 2025 in Northeast Washington has been wonderful so far. We are getting the rain we needed after a winter with very little snow. The fruit trees and bushes broke out in what beekeeper Doug Johnson calls a “Bouquet Bloom”. Fruit set abundantly and will need to be thinned. The grass is already high and green.
In this stage of rapid growth plants need nitrogen to fill out the chlorophyll molecules in their leaves where photosynthesis takes place and turns sunlight into sugar. When I see all that green grass, I think of all the nitrogen there. It has already been breathed in from the air and bonded to biology. That makes it much easier to take up again in other plants besides the grass. The most efficient source of nitrogen is urea, basically grass turned into fertilizer. Yes. We are talking about pee here.
Animals are mobile fertility factories. Our guts and the billions of microbes in them that generate the nutrition in our blood also eliminate abundant and immediate nutrition to the ground. In the ground fungus and bacteria bring the water, minerals, microbes, nutrients and even messages to roots and complete the cycle. I will skip the obvious problem with humans where most of the waste we eliminate never makes it back to the ground and move on to our fellow mammals, sheep.
I was lucky last winter to score several tons of aged horse manure. I spread it around under the vines and now have a halo of dark green grass under each vine. Even though it came from animals, fertilizing with manure took a lot of work and machinery. But my neighbor, Joe Petrucelli, has a good-sized orchard with high green grass and does not have to contemplate cutting grass, raking it up, adding it to compost, waiting for it to finish working and the spreading it under his trees. His orchard manager, Roman, brought in a herd of sheep complete with the cutest new baby lambs to do that job.
Not only does Joe not have to worry about compost, the grass in his orchard is being immediately turned into lambs and fertilizer at the perfect time. The lambs are growing fast. The grass is being mowed, and the trees are getting all the fertilizer they need to fill out those apples, cherries and pears.
There is some technology involved, electric fencing. But even that runs on sunlight. It makes a good substitute for wolves. Wolves are more than under-appreciated. They are considered an enemy. If we were dealing with let’s say, bison, in the wild, the wolves would make sure the herd keeps moving so that the ground gets a chance to restore the grass. Grass has deep roots and recovers quickly. Weeds survive on depleted soil by being toxic to livestock and don’t recover as quickly. So, wolves cull the weak animals and keep the forage in good shape.
To do that with fences you need to keep the livestock moving from one contained area to another. Known as rotational grazing or mob grazing, this technique, advocated by Allan Savory, restores depleted grassland and builds healthier domestic herds. Wild herds need wolves. Most often it is done with electric fencing that can be moved along with the herd. The sheep learn quickly not to touch the fence. It can be done with a system of permanent fencing as well.
In Joe’s orchard they use mobile fencing. It is actually beneficial to have tight bounds moved frequently rather than bigger areas. The close confines ensure that the animals don’t just eat plants they like but also eat or trample their least favorite plants and create room for the grass. The danger here is that if only noxious weeds are left and the animals eat them in desperation, the purpose is defeated. There is not a big load of noxious weeds to replace in Joe’s orchard, but that could be done if needed.
Electric fencing may deter wolves but the real danger to sheep, especially those with a lot of lambs in the mix, is cougars. So, Roman sleeps in a tent near the herd and is ready to ward off cougars if he hears a disturbance. In a more established situation, a herd can be sheltered at night for protection from predators. This system may not take a lot of equipment but it does take attention and action, which is one reason that there is so much overgrazed land infested with noxious weeds. The situation changes when cattle or sheep are grazed in the wild. Protection is possible but still takes time and attention. As quoted above, Michael Paul is right that there is more to learn from the natives. Domestic animals are at a higher risk than wild animals, yet herders can still keep predators at bay and hunters can join the hunt for wild animals with the predators. All of which means we can live as one with the earth if we pay attention.