the herbs around the grass

When it comes to plants, I usually look up to (for) trees. And thus I had come with the idea of focusing on them. Particularly in pastures, the presence of trees and their relation to the agroecosystem has always been intriguing. So called silvopastoral systems aim to combine the best of two worlds, lots of grassy forage for livestock and a broad array of multi-purpose trees. As a fan of agroforestry (putting trees on farms), I'm biased towards the latter. But I'm just realizing that the non-woody vegetation is just as fascinating. It's quite evident that some 'pastures', particularly those that are managed in a certain way (more on that later), are teeming with plant diversity. And one wonders about the role of these herbs and shrubs, if they are also foraged and are they nutritious, if they compete with grasses and/or they enhance their quality, if bees appreciate a flowery field and if farmers do too, if different roots below mean better things above...plant diveristy is important...right now it feels to be so.

pasture plant diversity