Muhlenbergia cuspidata, or Plains Muhly, is a native perennial grass. It’s a densely tufted and forms large clumps and can grow to 40 cm tall. The bases of the plants are bulbous and scaly, and the culms become solid and wiry as the plant ages. The leaf blades are about 3 mm wide and 3-10 cm long with pale margins. The are veined and hairy above and have a prominent midvein below. The collars of the grass are broad and light-yellow. They thicken over time, causing the grass to look nodulous. The seedhead is 5-10 cm long. Each spikelet is 1 flowered. The glumes form a short, narrow tip. Insects commonly parasitize the lemmas, forming galls like the ones seen in the picture. Plains Muhly is common in badlands and occasional on very dry grasslands, dry slopes, and calcareous soils. It is palatable in the early spring, but as the grass becomes stiff and wiry the palatability decreases. Although it spreads slowly vegetatively and produces few seeds, it’s an increaser that becomes more abundant under grazing. Photo and writeup by Katherine Johnson, ecologist.
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We were fortunate to be able to attend the Crown Managers Partnership 2024 Forum, co-hosted by ʔaq̓am band of Ktunaxa Nation in Cranbrook. The theme this year was water, the one thing needed for all living things, or '?a-kxam̓is q̓api qapsin'. Having worked on both sides of the continental divide in the headwaters areas with many different land partners, there were several moments of connecting the dots for us on large scale ecological issues. While touring the land, we observed the after effects of 2023 wildfires, invasive species degradation, and drying of wetlands, streams, and rivers. If we continue to lose water as climate change progresses, what will continue to happen our ecosystems?
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We are excited to welcome Brooklyn Clay to our biophysical team. Brooklyn is a junior ecologist based in Central Alberta and an Agrologist/Biologist in Training. Over the past two summers, Brooklyn worked as a seasonal technician in the Land Management department at the Alberta Conservation Association. Here, she was part of a dynamic team committed to conserving habitat for future generations while fostering sustainable recreational opportunities. In addition, Brooklyn served as a Weed Management Coordinator for Clearwater County, where she collaborated closely with producers and landowners to develop and execute comprehensive weed control strategies. Brooklyn's proficiency extends beyond fieldwork; she excels in wildlife and plant identification, mapping, and report writing. Brooklyn enjoys playing sports, hunting, fishing, and being her husband's farm hand.
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Post 3 in our greenhouse series is up.
The Passive Solar Greenhouse Facility In 2020 we initiated what would become a 3-year adventure into creating something completely new and unique to the world of greenhouse production. Like many people during Covid we explored a lot of food security ideas on our farm. We spent months researching different techniques to create a greenhouse that could operate without fossil fuels. This has been done by many all over the world from Chinese passive solar greenhouses to Unique North American Designs (search Oranges in the snow on youtube). The problem with existing designs is they are unable to increase temperatures to 20oC in January when its -40oC outside. This is critical for our native plant production when we want to deliver plants ready to be planted in early May. I considered GAHT systems (Ground to Air Heat Transfer), but our winter soil temperatures are too low. I looked at wattle green houses which sink the greenhouse into the ground to improve insulation and gain temperatures from the soil. The end conclusion was nothing being currently done could provide us with the heat we need for production in our cold Canadian Climate. To address this, I started designing a unique system based off of solar and geothermal applications that have been previously used to heat houses. A pure geothermal system is too expensive for installation, but a solar geothermal hybrid had potential. Our new greenhouse took shape in 2021. 26 shallow wells were drilled under the greenhouse and a closed loop water system was installed under the greenhouse. At the same time, we buried a 5000-gallon water storage tank and insulated the foundation of the greenhouse with an ICF system. We placed a heat sink in the north wall with a concrete wall and 4 feet of soil behind it. Within this wall we installed a GHAT system to improve day to night temperature mitigation. The final solar hot water collector system is being presently installed but the building is already in its second year of production with year 1 having no heating system and year 2 we started it in January with our backup heating system. This 4800 square foot greenhouse can produce up to 100,000 plugs for us and has become our main winter greenhouse facility allowing us to produce plants virtually any time of year. This past year with no supplemental heating until January we grew winter greens successfully. This greenhouse includes unique raised garden beds along with fruit trees (Peaches, Apricots, Cherries, Blueberries, Lemon, Figs, Grapes) all in it for our own use while it acts also as a commercial greenhouse. Hopefully within the next year or 2 it will have a small Aquaponics system set up. There is much more to say about this building but this is a quick run down on what we have created.
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