Summer months are the busiest months as the majority of project activities take place in the peak of the maturation of meadow plants. In Goričko, we started with the harvesting of the seed mixtures and collecting seeds for the seed bank. First green biomass for meadow restoration was scattered on 3,5 hectares in restoration.
Harvesting seed mixtures
Within the LIFE FOR SEEDS project, we are harvesting seed mixtures intended for sowing dry meadows in restoration. Similar as the previous year, we collected the seed mixtures from species-rich meadows, which are predominately privately owned. The seed mixtures are collected with the help of the colleagues from the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia. Harvesting of seed mixtures with a brush machine is planned twice during the season. We have completed the first brushing in the second half of June. The second brushing will be carried out in August. Brushing at different times during the season means a greater yield of harvested seeds, since not all plants mature at the same time. Seed mixtures were harvested on 6.5 hectares of meadows from which we obtained 196 kg of seed material. The mixture are repeatedly mixed till dry and will be sown on meadows this autumn.
Green mulch
At the same time, we started with the restoration by using so-called “green mulch”. Green mulch is green, freshly mowed grass biomass that is cut into smaller pieces and transported to the recipient, species-poor meadows. The cut green plants then mature to germinate seeds. Green mulch was collected on 7 hectares and this amount of biomass was sufficient for 3,5 hectares of meadows in restoration.
For this experiment, it was necessary to mow all recipient meadows before spreading green mulch on the surface. Green biomass was obtained from species-rich (donor) meadows, which are predominately privately owned.
This method of restoration is done entirely by machinery, meanwhile restoration with seed mixtures is done mostly by hand. Only time will tell which method will be more efficient.
Seed bank
In 2023, we also started collecting the seeds of meadow plants, which will be stored in two seed banks. The aim of the project is to collect seeds of 300 different plant species. This activity is planned for the next three years.
We will collect seeds all over Goričko to collect the most diverse collection of different species of meadow plants in order to achieve the sufficient genetic diversity. This year, we collect seeds on 10 species- rich meadows. So far, we have collected over 70 collections – 1 collection is 1 species of plant from 1 meadow. Seeds of the same species are collected on different meadows. The seeds are collected every few weeks as the plants seed and so these meadows will remain unmown till late summer.
We would like to thank all of the meadow owners that agreed to cooperate with us!
