Tanks for sharing your observations. We live in southern Mo and have have noticed similar things. The volunteer seedlings and natives outpace our starts by a LOT, and the "jungle" ( or mixed hardwood forest) seeks to take back the zones we've cleared. We've blessed with purslane and lambs quarters that show up wherever the soil is left bare. Like you plenty of sheet mulch and OM makes the whole system run more smoothly. Happy to see you representing Permcautlure on steemit!