Natural meadows
- The most common type of nature by the river Kongeå
Moist bogs and fens, where animals are grazed or hay is harvested, become what we call fresh meadows.
It is often the transitional forms between rich fens and poor fens that are most suitable for meadow farming. These types of fens are also the most commonly found in the Kongeå Valley.
’The field's mother’
In the old days, the meadow was called 'the field's mother', because access to meadows improved the opportunities for farming the higher-lying fields with grain and other crops.
Hay from the meadows provided winter feed for the cattle, which reciprocated by producing fertilizer for the field's crops. After being mowed, the cattle could graze in the moist meadows, where grass and herbs could grow in even the driest summer months.
Flooding in winter
The meadows along rivers like the Kongeå were flooded each winter. The floods left mud deposits that provided nutrients for the following years's growth of meadow plants.
In many places, meadow irrigation systems were established, where the river water was led through channels to the meadows to ensure the meadows were kept moist and nutrient-rich.
Many plant species
The meadows are the habitat for a variety of plant species and many of them have names that allude to their habitat - Meadow-cress, marsh marigold, meadow forget-me-nots, meadow lousewort and globe flower.
Today there is less need for grazing land for livestock and there are therefore many meadows with high grasses, reeds and willow scrub.
