Good morning, and welcome to this month’s edition of Reading Landscapes.

Here’s what we’ve got for you today:

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In this month's newsletter, we have a question from Mike about contours. 

Mike asks: PA talked about a 2-contour system, 1 for fresh water to wet the ground and a second one to hold fertility material. Is this still advised, or should we use just one contour? 

Thanks for the question, Mike. 

Yes, we still recommend the double-contour design; in short, its implementation depends on the context of the particular job. What machine are we using? What is the terrain of the landscape like? Those two questions will determine whether we do a full double-contour design. 

If you're not sure what Mike is asking, let's discuss what a double-contour design is. Let's look at Back from the Brink and see how PA describes a double contour. 

First, a contour is a constructed level bank along a contour line, creating a channel behind the bank. It is designed to slow and spread runoff, promoting infiltration and fertility collection, to function as a wetland. 

PA describes a contour as being both a water-management and fertility-management system. When installing a contour, we compensate for the fact that the plants that once managed the process are no longer there, and we set in place a mechanical system to stimulate that process again. But the system will only work correctly if the contours are built the right way - with design, location, size, and management all needing to be accounted for. 

Now that we've got a contour out of the way, what is a double contour? 

As you can see from the diagram, there is the main channel on the top side and a secondary channel below the bank on the bottom side. As Mike said in his question, the main channel manages incoming fresh water, and the secondary channel holds and processes fertility to feed into the landscape. 

This is designed like this to first capture, slow and spread the water and then the fertility we add is protected on the bottom side where it can't be washed away, but instead slowly break down over time being transported by the water on the top side and gravity to feed the landscape below and by having the water already working above it recharges the soil and minimises the leaching of the fertility, through the profile of the soil, so that it remains close to the surface where plants can reach it, rather than down deep and of less use. 

Okay, back to Mike's question. Firstly, the machine that we have. Building a double contour like the example above is much easier with a machine with a blade, like a bulldozer, grader, or tractor with a grader blade; it gets more difficult and fiddly with a machine like an excavator with a bucket. 

The contour above was constructed with a blade on the back of the tractor, and as you can see, it uses the double-contour design. 

Second, the terrain we are working on. Building a double contour on steep landscapes is very tricky, no matter what machine you use, and in most cases, not worth it. As you can see in the landscape below, we built a contour in the steeper area, and we haven't installed the second contour because it's too challenging. 

I hope that answers your question, Mike, on where we stand with double contours. 

In any case, just because the second contour isn't there doesn't mean you still can't undertake the processes PA discusses. Solid fertility can still be placed below the bank where it is protected and can break down over time, being fed out with water and gravity, and liquid fertility can be spread with water in the main channel. 

So, yes we still build a double contour, but as you can see from the photo of the one we've built it is merely a small secondary channel on the bottom side to collect and spread fertility and to act as a protector for the main channel in the case of an unlimited capacity event where water will go over the whole bank and therefore complete the process of water on water that we teach falling into the pond on the bottom side created by the secondary contour. 

"Wherever there's water, there's life." That's the philosophy driving Scott and Adele Frew at Belli Beef, a regenerative cattle farm tucked into the hinterland above the Sunshine Coast.

Working the steeper landscape of their property, Scott and Adele have been implementing contours across the slopes to trap fertility before it ever reaches the Mary Valley river system below. As the water is caught and slowly released back into the ground, the grass species are changing, and the country is starting to hold onto what it's given, rather than losing it downhill. This philosophy runs through the farm, even into Wild Barrel, the only farm-based microbrewery on the Sunshine Coast, which draws on fruit grown in the property's own syntropic system.

For Scott and Adele, it comes back to one idea: give back a little more than you take, and the loop between land, cattle and consumer starts to close.

👉 Watch Scott & Adele's full story: https://youtu.be/Y9vh0erRdL4

👉 Read the complete case study: https://www.tarwynparktraining.com.au/p/the-frews-at-belli-beef

Have a plant you’d like to discuss? Share it with us here.

Common Names: Common Sowthistle, Sow Thistle, Smooth Sow Thistle, Milk Thistle, Milky Tassel, Soft Thistle, Hare's Colwort, Hare's Thistle

Scientific Name: Sonchus oleraceus

Where in the Succession: Late succession accumulator

Milk Thistle is an annual herb that grows to about 1m tall with hollow stems and a milky sap when broken, hence the name Milk Thistle. They grow a distinct yellow flower, much like a Dandelion. Their overall look can vary greatly, from having a few prickles to many (even though they aren't part of the thistle family), and their leaves range from green to purple. 

Native to many parts of the northern hemisphere and now naturalised in many other parts of the world, Milk Thistle is now a well-known plant across most of the world. It is actually one of the most widely distributed plants in the world, growing on every continent, except Antarctica. 

I decided on Milk Thistle for this month's edition as we have some very strong crops of it growing out in our pastures at the moment at Forage Farms, which I am very pleased to see and when bringing our sows into the yards last week, they were very happily grazing on every plant they could get their mouths around, hence why they have the common name Sow Thistle. 

Milk Thistle is a late succession accumulator, often growing alongside our more productive exploiter species, with its density changing depending on our management. And, interestingly, as we'll see, Milk Thistle loves nitrogen, so in some instances its growth could be indicating more as a balancer species than as an accumulator, but that will depend on context. 

Milk Thistle is still a very opportunistic species, taking advantage of disturbance to grab its chance, but unlike some of our other accumulator species, it requires better-quality conditions to be most successful. Some of the common characteristics of a landscape favouring Milk Thistle include; 

🐮 Manage with livestock. Livestock will happily graze Milk Thistle; with that in mind, a time-controlled grazing system focused on higher stocking density followed by adequate recovery times will be a strong tool for pushing back Milk Thistle dominance and creating opportunities for other species to compete in the pasture. 

🚜 Reduce disturbance. Milk Thistle thrives on landscapes with adequate fertility and moisture that are disturbed, whether through overgrazing, cultivation, fire or chemical fallow - Milk Thistle will quickly take the opportunity that it's presented with. Reducing disturbance or, where required, following it up straight away with planting will reduce opportunities for Milk Thistle to step in. 

🌱 Increase plant diversity and ground cover. Milk Thistle will struggle to dominate in pasture where there is already strong ground cover and plant diversity; in such environments, it will form part of the diverse pasture instead of dominating, as we see in other scenarios. Long-term management should work towards this healthy level of diversity in our pastures. 

🪨 Increase organic matter. In some instances, I find Milk Thistle growing in conditions when nitrogen levels can start to lift to higher levels; building organic matter in our soils will help provide the conditions for competition to keep Milk Thistle at bay; additionally, it will help balance the C:N ratio when the nitrogen levels start to rise.

🪨 As a Soil Indicator: Low Calcium, Very High Potassium, Very low Phosphate, Very high Magnesium, High Manganese, High Iron, High Sulphur,  High Copper,  High Zinc, High Boron, High Aluminum and Good drainage¹

🐮 Livestock: Milk Thistle is readily consumed by livestock because it is quite palatable. It is also beneficial because of its high mineral content, relatively high protein levels, and strong levels of healthy fats. 

💊 Medicinal: Milk Thistle has a long history in traditional medicine for its benefits², including liver problems, inflammation, headaches, general pain, stomach complaints, and as a cure for warts³. It can also be used as a tonic due to its high vitamin and mineral content.

Modern medicine has studied it for its use in protecting against stomach ulceration⁴, its anti-inflammatory activity⁵, antioxidant levels for anti-ageing⁶ and protecting against liver toxicity⁷

🍽️ Consumption: Milk Thistle has a strong history of being foraged for food. Typically, people eat the young leaves and stems raw or cooked like spinach, with a mild taste and slight bitterness. It is an excellent source of vitamin C along with other vitamins and minerals. Here, here and here are some excellent articles on how to forage and use Milk Thistle in your kitchen. 

Join us at Summer Dell Farm for a Natural Sequence Farming field day, featuring a guided tour of the works implemented on the property with Roy Baker of Rosella Regen. Thanks to hosts Susanna Price, Bryan O'Neill and Ken Reiman for opening up their property for the day.

When: October 10, 9:00 am for a 9:30 am start
Where: Sutton Forest Hall, then Summer Dell Farm, Exeter NSW

Something we've been working toward for a long time is finally here.

For over a decade, we've been teaching Natural Sequence Farming in person. Now we've built a way for anyone, anywhere, to access the same knowledge - without leaving home.

Learning Landscapes is a fully online, self-paced course that takes you through the complete NSF framework. From reading your landscape, to the 5 Pillars, to a hands-on plan you can start applying on your own land. It works at any scale, from the backyard to the farm. No prior experience needed.

This isn't a passive watch-and-forget experience. It's built around getting you outside, making observations, and putting knowledge into practice - with a live community alongside you the whole way.

If you're ready to start seeing your landscape differently, we'd love to have you along.

A quick list of our favourite things we’ve been watching, reading, listening, and writing.

Principles: I have recently read this book by Ray Dalio. It is an in-depth masterclass on building systems for success in both your personal life and business management. It is a long read but worth the journey. 

Unlock Your Land's Potential: In June, Stuart presented at the FBA's 2-day masterclass event. They recorded the presentation, and it's available on YouTube if you're interested in watching. 

The Odyssey: Christopher Nolan's new blockbuster has hit cinemas, and like most of his movies, it has been a big success so far. The film is adapted from Homer's ancient Greek poem The Odyssey and follows Odysseus's journey after the Trojan War. It is a great movie, and well worth the watch. 

Never Enough: Another great book to add to the read list and much shorter than Principles. In this book Andrew covers his journey to being a billionaire and the critical learnings he made along the way, especially the "knowledge of having enough" which many people never reach.