Above is one of the areas that the Commander has cleared of saplings and large trees. He hasn't cut everything to the ground yet as the sheep are supposed to like nibbling on them, plus he still has several mountains of brush to chip. Back before he sprained his ankle he sprinkled this area with pasture grass seed; the birds, chipmunks, and squirrels loved it!
We found some sod on sale today so we figured it wouldn't hurt to throw some down on the bare areas in the goat pen and in a few areas of the future pasture. We raked the soil and watered the sod, hopefully it will rain tonight. Sara likes it, and so probably will the deer.
It looks really funny and we don't have much hope that it will grow, but it has a better chance than the seed that is in the birds bellies.
As mentioned on the phone, the cheapest and easiest way to "seed" a pasture is to feed local grass hay on the ground (on a dry day), and when the rains come, the seeds sheltered under the few pieces of hay remaining on the ground will sprout and grow if livestock (and deer!) are fenced out. We've done this with great success in the worst parcels of our acreage that had been over-tilled for nearly 80 years by previous owners, creating a hardpan less than 6 inches deep. Pasture rotations and feeding hay in the bare spots have created very lush pastures in a short time, with abundant earthworms where the soil was void of worms before we got our hands on it. Good luck with the fencing! : )
ReplyDelete~ Ronda
It almost looks like you may have a putting green out there in that pasture. :-)
ReplyDeleteGrrr..we had so much trouble seeding our lawn at our last house because the birds loved that seed so. It was quite amazing to look out the window and see a blanket of birds in the back yard.....
For what it's worth, I agree with Rhonda, it takes a little bit, but you will like the results. But, one of the most important things is patience. Which I have the horrible problem of wanting RIGHT NOW.
ReplyDeleteCat