Healthy soil and sustainable growing

[Harvey Ussery <huboxwood@earthlink.net>]

I think "Food not lawns" is a great idea. For two years now, I have 
rotation-grazed my waterfowl (ducks and geese) over five plots of our 
former "lawns" (now re-named our "close-in pastures"), turning what was 
a useless chore into a valuable resource: I did far less mowing, the 
waterfowl's poops gave a fertility boost to the lawn-pastures, and we 
harvested that grass in the form of meat and cooking fat in the fall.

Another good use of the lawn is as "fertility patch": I've started 
overseeding the lawns with the same mix of clovers, alfalfa, and grasses 
I use to seed my pastures. In the spring, when the mix is growing fast, 
I let it get long enough to cut with the scythe for use as mulches and 
composts. Later, when growth slows down, I (together with the grazing 
waterfowl) keep it more conventionally trimmed (but still use the bagger 
on the mower to catch the clippings for fertility applications elsewhere).

~Harvey
--
Harvey in northern VA
www.themodernhomestead.us

"Just a single fill of ethanol for a four-wheel drive SUV uses
enough grain to feed one person for an entire year."  ~Lester Brown