It all started in the 1850’s as western Minnesota was being settled. The first pioneers were able to get two quarters of land if they started a tree claim on one quarter(160 acres) and built a sod shanty on the second quarter. Then they had to reside on their new prairie ground for five years and if they did the land was theirs free and clear.

And now you are beginning to wonder what does all that history have to do with today’s blog? Well that brief return to the 1850’s helps to explain why I am suffering leg and back pains and a right hand that is not functioning well. Let me explain.

I have been spending one hour a day for the last few weeks removing an ugly little shrub named Buckthorn from the shelterbelt surrounding our house. Because of my dislike for painful and tiring labor I have limited my efforts to one hour per day until the annoying job is somewhat under control. Although it will never be completely under control.

Let’s return to the 1850’s again and get a clearer picture how those early pioneers got me into this fix.

After five years of struggling on their newly acquired two quarters of land Mom and Pop pioneer were starting to make headway toward becoming successful Minnesota farmers. In fact Mom was probably the one to bring up the idea when she said, “Hey, Pop now that we are able to abandon that bug infested sod house and finally build a tiny, wooden house I think we should think about getting a yard with a picket fence and maybe a couple trees.

“Ahh,” Pop probably replied, “if you want trees take a hike over to the other 160 acres and wander among the trees over there.”

“That’s too far to walk and besides I’m taller then most of those trees are!”

Muttering something about frontier women are never happy Pop probably stomped out of the house to do some farm chores. But through the day he pondered his wife’s request and as evening approached  he returned to the house to wash up for supper and he said, “You know Mom I been thinking about your idea of sprucing up the front yard. Maybe you’re right. When we go to town for supplies next time let’s visit the general store. They have a catalog where we can order plants which they will ship to us from the East coast.”

That made Mom extremely happy largely because she was going to get some plants for the yard but also because that had been the first time her husband had said she was right in all of their married years! Some things never change. 🙂

So the couple visited the general store and ordered plants called Buckthorn that the catalog said was a hardy, European shrub that produced beautiful hedges and would grow wonderfully well in Minnesota. One of Minnesota’s first invasive plant species was about to arrive even before the term ‘invasive species’ had been invented. 🙁

So the European shrubs arrived and Mom and Pop planted the hedge probably arguing about how deep to plant them, how much water to add and how far apart to space the plants. In the end Buckthorn had made it’s appearance on the Minnesota landscalpe with the pioneers completely clueless to the effect the plant’s presence would have on the Minnesota ecology in the ensuing 170 years.

There were a few important facts that the catalog did not share with the pioneer family those many years ago. Buckthorn is a very aggressive shrub. It crowds out other plants in the understories of farm groves. Also they produce a purple berry which contain seeds that are very hard for birds to digest.

As a bird is preparing to go to the bathroom whether on a branch, fence post or even possibly in flight the undigested Buckthorn seed falls to the ground wrapped in bird fertilizer. Talk about a great start in life!

The seeds also have a high germination rate so the majority of the seeds will grow into new bouncing baby Buckthorn shrubs.

When fall arrives and we jump into our vehicles to travel the countryside to view the beautiful color changing foliage Buckthorn becomes a big disappointment as the leaves do not change color. They remain the same dark blue-green shade until winter arrives when they freeze and eventually drop from the shrubs.

Every grove of trees in the Midwest is contaminated with Buckthorn.

So that brings us back to our farm grove, a grove also contaminated with the dreaded Buckthorn shrub. I had done a ‘search and destroy’ in one of the worst infested areas of our grove probably five years ago. But if you don’t get the complete plant out of the ground new shoots grow up from the original trunk.

That had happened in the area I had originally cleaned up plus new plants had arisen from the germination-crazy ‘bird poop’ packaged seeds. So that has been my challenge one hour a day for the last several weeks, reclaim the land conquered by the Buckthorn shrubs.

We have had a lot of rain this summer and Buckthorn roots are rather shallow so the plants three feet tall and smaller can be pulled out of the ground roots and all. The great thing about that is they will never grow back.

But even working an hour a day the pulling, tugging and cutting is not kind to my aging body. Nor are the humming mosquitoes enjoyable that swarm around my net covered head.  Not to mention my rising body temperature resulting from the long sleeved shirt I wear to further mosquito protect me.

I have almost completed the Buckthorn eradication. Next I will rake the Buckthorn remains into piles and burn them with great delight. 🙂 Hopefully this fall I will till the area and seed shade grass. Next summer the area will become part of our lawn and maybe a few really short Buckthorn shrubs that the lawnmower can’t quite reach.

Now after unloading my Buckthorn ecology disaster on you I’m feeling a little better. I’m feeling a little more hopeful that my hour of physical fitness each day these past few weeks has made our farm grove a better place.

Anyway in every dark cloud there is a silver lining they say but I’m not sure this Buckthorn disaster qualifies. Well unless, what do you think Buckthorn berry jam would taste like? 🙂

Until next time.