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["Lynn Wigglesworth" <lynnw1366 AT hotmail.com>]

Rob; It's always a nice surprise when a plan comes together. Are both fields 
going to be pasture or do you rotate them to be pasture/field crops? My 
pastures are all permanent, and over the years I've tried overseeding with 
various forage seeds..one year I tried Newman Turner's suggested seed mix 
(he was a British pasture expert). His mix is similar, I think to Salatin's 
'salad bar' pasture...lots of deep-rooted perennials. Some of the seeds 
took, some didn't, but I have a nice, diverse pasture now. With my new 
fence, I have 35 acres fenced, but only about 10 acres is nice pasture...the 
rest is wooded/brambles with some grassy spots. I've cleared some of the 
brambles with a brush hog, but it's a lot of work.  I've been thinking about 
getting goats to help clear the brambles so I can have more grass (the sheep 
are too scared to go into the woods...what a bunch of wusses). My goal is to 
have enough pasture so I only need hay when there is too much snow to graze, 
and I'm hoping I can make that much hay myself so I don't have to buy any.

Lynn Wigglesworth
Tioga Co. PA

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Robert Walton" <waltonrp AT gmail.com>
To: <homestead AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Tuesday, November 11, 2008 7:24 AM
Subject: [Homestead] Crimson Clover, cover crops


> Hey all,
>
> I planted my 1 1/2 acre field to crimson clover/oats last year. It
> grew fine for acid soil with low fertility. This June and July were so
> dry, I could never get in to till the ground up, so I ran the goats in
> it to keep down the ragweed. It got limed in August and it's rained
> pretty good since then. I went in the other day to bush hog it off for
> winter and low and behold, the clover and a decent amount of oats has
> reseeded. I know some of the clover seed was hard seed, but the field
> is so full of clover, I'm going to leave it and just seed a few spots
> that are bare.
>
> Good deal. Small successes are a good thing!
>
> The other field is a half acre and I'm seeing it today to oats and a
> pasture mix: grass/clover, I'm adding a little alfalfa, maybe it will
> grow. Garden is tilled up and gets oats/crimson clover.
>
> I was gearing up to till that 1 1/2 acre field. Good saving on gas,
> time and seed. It got started early so it might even provide some nice
> oat and clover winter pasture.
>
> Rob - Va
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