On Wednesday, more than a dozen goats were brought to Riverside Park in New York City to eat weeds. If the goats eat all of the weeds, chemicals are not needed.
The goats came from Green Goats farm in Rhinebeck, New York. They will eat overgrown bushes including plants dangerous to humans, like poison ivy.
Chief executive of the Riverside Park Conservancy, John Herrold, is amazed that the goats can pull the plants from the ground on the side of a very steep hill. He says that the goats will eat invasive plants and the park will replace them with native plants.
Goats are a great idea for removing weeds. They love leafy greens. The Goats even eat poison ivy, porcelain berry, and multiflora rose, which the park wants to get rid of.
20 goats arrived on Wednesday, but only 4 will stay in the park until the end of summer to continue eating.
VOCABULARY
- Dozen – twelve; twelve pieces
- Weed – an unwanted plant; a wild plant that’s not pretty
- Overgrown – grown too large or out of control
- Bush – a shrub; a plant that is short and close to the ground
- Chief executive – president; top person; boss
- Conservancy – a group or organization that wants to protect or save nature or history
- Invasive – not natural to the area, spreads quickly and harmful to the new area
- Native – original; from the area; domestic
- Leafy greens – plant leaves; a plant with a lot of leaves
- Get rid of – remove, clear out, throw out, discard
Original story from Reuters below:
