Homestead mailing list

[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

Date:   Thu, 25 Feb 1999 15:29:00 -0500
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From: Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT roanoke.infi.net>
To: homestead AT listserv.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Re: New pasture & high tensile fences
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"Paul S. Hetrick" wrote:

> >It's me again.  Twice in one week is a recent record for me.  I am facing
> >a bit of a dilemma with some new pastures we are establishing and I am
> >hoping to get some homesteader wisdom.  Our farm has been "mined" for
> >many years to grow tobacco, soybeans and wheat and I have been working to
> >turn the soil erosion around.  So last fall we planted about 12 acres of
> >these fields with grasses and clover.  Some of the new pasture fields are
> >looking great, but others look very poor.  I guess the poor ones had
> >suffered greater erosion and resulted in poor seed germination and
> >survival.
>
> Pasture revitalization is something I've been looking into in great
> detail lately.  my techniques are unique and as yet unproven, but they
> make sense to me. . . .
>
> Time for a shameless plug:  I started a newsletter to describe my plans
> and ideas on farming, and the next issue was to be on how I intend to
> treat old pastures.  However since even friends are not reading the
> newsletter there probably will not be a next issue.  The first two
> issues are on my web site.   If there is enough interest I'll do more.
> (Gene, care to give me an endorsemant?) http://www.ledgewood-consulting.com
>
> There are plants that root deep and can grow in poor soil that will
> help stabilize the erosion.   Look into vetches and forage chicory
> and some clovers. Some forage turnips will add organic matter as well.
>
> > Right now is the time to fertilize these pastures, and this is
> >my dilemma.  The soil nutrient levels are low enough (soil test done)
> >that if I don't fertilize it much of the grasses may die and I'll likely
> >watch more
>
> There are two questions that need to be answered:  How much time are you
> willing to take?, and why do you prefer organic?
>
> The question about preferring organic is asked because some of the troubles
> with synthetic fertilizers can be overcome with careful selection and
> aplication.
>
> Well if the nutrients are not there they have to be added some 
way.   Growing
> whatever you can get to grow there will slow the erosion and add organic
> matter,
> but if the minerals are not there they have to come from somewhere.
>
> Get something growing there--even weeds if all else fails.  If you apply
> fertilizer
> in repeated light applications the plants will soak up the nutrients before
> they
> have a chance to leach out to where they are acting like 
pollutants and not a
> benefit.  Even if you can't get manure (and this soil sounds bad enough that
> even manure may not be enough) you usually can get more natural fertilizers
> that the typical mixes.   Rock phosphate is better than super 
phosphate.  Ask
> about bonemeal and blood meal.   If you have to go with synthetic 
fertilizers
> try to get pure nutrients and dilute them yourself.   You are far less
> likely to
> accidentally contaminate your soil with ammonium-nitrate than some generic
> 30 * *  mix that may well have been made from industrial waists.
>
> Even the pastures that look good should not be cropped heavily.  If you do
> graze animals in the pasture the nutrients will recycle naturally, 
but if you
> cut hay and haul it off you'll need to replace the nutrients that 
leave in the
> hay.  If some of your pastures are really, really good you might plant crops
> that you can compost and spread on the poorest fields.  Lightly fertilizing
> the pastures you're steeling nutrients from would then be in order.
>
> ==>paul
> One man's pasture is another one's future.
> http://ledgewood-consulting.com/  Home of the Homestead Chat Room 8:00PM
> EST nightly!

>>>tvoivozhd.  I subscribed to your homepage updates.  The cost of 
creating and
maintaining a website is considerable, and no matter what you do, 
consciousness of
its presence or value is hard to come by unless you are selling 
dollar bills for
fifty cents.

It is a good concept and it would be a shame if it were to vanish 
without a trace.

Somewhat analogous on the low-input bit---when I was very young and the proud
possessor of a used .22 and the cheapest of ammo, .22 shorts, the 
former gained in
exchange for two weeks work operating a sorghum mill, most of the 
meat eaten and
canned for the winter was squirrels and rabbits.  The former required no
investment in food or housing whatsoever, and the labor investment 
for the latter
was a byproduct of numerous brushpiles resulting from laboriously cutting 
trees
for firewood.

It won't work for things that have to be obtained in the money economy, but 
for
the limited amount of food staples a family needs, (excluding off-season fresh
fruit and vegetables) , hunter-gatherer practices provide the best quality and
least work---and in the case of rabbits, squirrels etc., they come in small,
easily-processed self-storing packages.

You don't have to worry about whether you have enough freezer space 
or what to do
when the power goes out.