Homestead mailing list

[Rob <becida AT comcast.net>]

At  8/24/2008 05:58 PM,Bunjov AT aol.com wrote:
> Well, Rob -
>
> I figure you're not going to get a viable answer until either James or akka
> chimes in. Unless there's a TiVo archive somewhere in cyberspace.
>
> Staying tuned,
> Sandy
> Mid-Mojave

tvo? Let's see....


Date:   Wed, 14 Apr 1999 12:21:06 -0400
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From: Tvoivozhd <tvoivozd AT roanoke.infi.net>
To: homestead AT listserv.oit.unc.edu
Subject: Re: Crown vetch
References: <199904141351.JAA07031 AT smtp.usit.net>
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donna warren wrote:

> Does anyone know whether crown vetch would work to cover, hold, and maybe
> build up the straight clay subsoil which is exposed in much of my pasture
> field?  There is also a gully washing there.
>
> Donna, Tennessee

>>>tvoivozhd---few things are better for that purpose than Crown Vetch---once
it gets started.  You should give it assistance or the results will be
disappointing.

Do two things simultaneously---plant seed in the washes and in a nice,
fertile, well-watered area plant seeds to establish a transplant bed.  If
direct-seeding fails, you can almost certainly be successful the next year
with crown vetch plugs and mulch---providing they are planted in the Fall
rainy season.  Spring plantings work if there is no summer drought.

Before you plant any seeds, check the PH.  Crown Vetch is a legume and does
not do well in acid soil.  If your soil is acid (and probably is), bring up
the PH to 6.0 with cheap agriculture lime.  Test the soil for nutrients.  You
will find no nitrogen, but a pretty good chance the phosphorus and potassium
is adequate.  I usually put down some 10-10-10 fertilizer anyway.  Once
established the Crown Vetch will create its own nitrogen, but cannot until
the nodules form on the roots, and added phosphorus and potassium won't hurt.

Forgot---scarify the seed and use inoculant on it before you plant it.
Scarify the seed either mechanically or chemically.
Mechanically by rubbing it on emery cloth, chemically by soaking it in
chlorox for about five minutes.  Crown Vetch seed normally does not germinate
all in the same season, but across a three-year period.  Scarifying it makes
almost all of it germinate within several weeks of planting.  Also any legume
requires inoculant to develop the nitrogen-producing root nodules, so apply
it to the seeds before planting and keep them subsequently out of direct
sunlight, which kills the inoculant.

Plant the seeds one-quarter to one-half inch deep (like clover) and firm the
soil over them.  You also need to hold the soil in place until the planting
is rooted.  A cover-crop of oats, rye or buckwheat will help toward this
end.  You can plant the cover crop thinly and forget it, or thickly (better),
and with more work, keep it mowed down to five or six inches with a hand-held
weedeater.  An alternative to a cover-crop is an inch or two of straw,
grass-clippings or compost.  Check after rain and add more if required.  Your
County and State road department have a better solution---spraying seed,
mulch and adhesive to form a slowly-dissolving blanket over washes, but few
tool rentals have this equipment so you do the next best thing.

.