Hello all!
Since I didn't get a chance to prepare the garden properly for the winter, didn't save and cut grass for mulching either, was hoping for a mulching solution that may work?
How about dry Alfalfa for mulching the beds? A friend of mine, offered to bring 4-5 bales of it, for his horses, somehow it is not their "favorite" treat... It is dry, but still very green at the moment. I normally mulch with my own grass clippings after transplanting tomatoes/peppers, but not going to have it for this spring...
Thoughts?
Regards,
D
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 30543
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I'm going to refer you to this [url=https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21761]Hay thread[/url] which you may have missed during your absence.
Definitely going with hay NOT straw this year as well. Alfalfa hay was expensive and hard to find so take all you can get!!
I think N availability will be lowest with all grass hay and get higher as you go to mixed and mixed orchard and then mixed clover and mixed alfalfa. I don't know if what you're getting is mixed or pure alfalfa (if there is such a thing) but keep that in mind for using with tomatoes.
Hay produces a lot of heat as it breaks down (just like compost) so you need to be careful not to cook the stems or the surface roots. You might be better off laying out the "flakes", allowing them to break down a bit and heat up the soil, then poking holes and planting the transplants earlier than you normally can.
Definitely going with hay NOT straw this year as well. Alfalfa hay was expensive and hard to find so take all you can get!!
I think N availability will be lowest with all grass hay and get higher as you go to mixed and mixed orchard and then mixed clover and mixed alfalfa. I don't know if what you're getting is mixed or pure alfalfa (if there is such a thing) but keep that in mind for using with tomatoes.
Hay produces a lot of heat as it breaks down (just like compost) so you need to be careful not to cook the stems or the surface roots. You might be better off laying out the "flakes", allowing them to break down a bit and heat up the soil, then poking holes and planting the transplants earlier than you normally can.
Great read, Apple, thank you!
Yes indeed, getting the freebies from him! And doing it almost as you suggested. I will try to get some well aged manure mixed with top soil from him very early spring to amend the beds first. About 3 weeks or so before the transplant time, I will as always add fertilizers to the soil and will spread the Alfalfa (he says it is mostly pure alfalfa) and some mixed in straw directly onto the beds, let it break down a little first...
Something new to try again
BTW, nice "virtual beds" you created with those materials in the Hay thread!!!
Regards,
D
Yes indeed, getting the freebies from him! And doing it almost as you suggested. I will try to get some well aged manure mixed with top soil from him very early spring to amend the beds first. About 3 weeks or so before the transplant time, I will as always add fertilizers to the soil and will spread the Alfalfa (he says it is mostly pure alfalfa) and some mixed in straw directly onto the beds, let it break down a little first...
Something new to try again
BTW, nice "virtual beds" you created with those materials in the Hay thread!!!Regards,
D
Yes, the Alfalfa should make a great Mulch; and any surplus could be added to your compost.
I am planning on growing a "test plot" of Alfalfa later this year, for the purpose of harvesting the biomass to use as mulch and compost material.
My plan is to take a section of fallow hayfield (mostly weed field ), about 30' x 40', and grow three green manure crops, followed by the Alfalfa. Here's my plan:
Spring: Annual Ryegrass and Snow Peas
early Summer: Purple Hull Cowpeas
late Summer: Buckwheat
Fall: Alfalfa
My goal is to use the 3 green manure crops to help smother and crowd out the weeds. The Fall-planted Alfalfa should over-winter, and then be ready to begin harvesting in 2012. ... if all goes well.
I am planning on growing a "test plot" of Alfalfa later this year, for the purpose of harvesting the biomass to use as mulch and compost material.
My plan is to take a section of fallow hayfield (mostly weed field
), about 30' x 40', and grow three green manure crops, followed by the Alfalfa. Here's my plan:Spring: Annual Ryegrass and Snow Peas
early Summer: Purple Hull Cowpeas
late Summer: Buckwheat
Fall: Alfalfa
My goal is to use the 3 green manure crops to help smother and crowd out the weeds. The Fall-planted Alfalfa should over-winter, and then be ready to begin harvesting in 2012. ... if all goes well.
Applestar,
I read post after post suggesting use straw as a bed mulch. I'm curious why you don't like it as mulch.
I bought a big bale of alfalfa which was still 90% green to mix into my compost bin. It seems to be working well with the other materials to make compost, but I haven't intended using it for mulch also. I seem to remember some threads that said alfalfa doesn't make good mulch, but I can't remember why.
We buy the big round bales of hay that weigh about 500 lbs. for the cattle. In the spring when we have a few rains, the entire bales will sprout new grass. Thats all they are, big rolled up balls of grass with seeds and stems.
I bought the straw bales to use in straw bale garden beds. They were wheat straw and loaded with a lot of wheat seed. I don't mind wheat seed, because it grows so fast and large, it is easy to spot and pull.
Ted
I read post after post suggesting use straw as a bed mulch. I'm curious why you don't like it as mulch.
I bought a big bale of alfalfa which was still 90% green to mix into my compost bin. It seems to be working well with the other materials to make compost, but I haven't intended using it for mulch also. I seem to remember some threads that said alfalfa doesn't make good mulch, but I can't remember why.
We buy the big round bales of hay that weigh about 500 lbs. for the cattle. In the spring when we have a few rains, the entire bales will sprout new grass. Thats all they are, big rolled up balls of grass with seeds and stems.
I bought the straw bales to use in straw bale garden beds. They were wheat straw and loaded with a lot of wheat seed. I don't mind wheat seed, because it grows so fast and large, it is easy to spot and pull.
Ted
-
gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
Alfalfa is great for the garden. You lucked out there as said it is not cheap to buy. I was following a farmer this fall with a trailer full of the huge bails of it hoping one would fall off and bounce into my truck bed.
farmerlon you have a great plan there. That will be a great addition to your garden I believe most if not all of the crops you are using are nitrogen fixers.
farmerlon you have a great plan there. That will be a great addition to your garden I believe most if not all of the crops you are using are nitrogen fixers.
-
Ozark Lady
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1862
- Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:28 pm
- Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet
One word:
Seeds!
Alfalfa is fantastic, it has roots that will go 25(?) feet deep and bring up needed minerals. It is fantastic for getting soil in good shape, and it is a legume, hence nitrogen fixing.
That said, it can be pretty invasive. And yet, us farmers would dearly love to have alfalfa invade our pastures. Alas, I can only grow clover, alfalfa, and grasses in my garden, where I don't have room for it!
I feed my goats alfalfa, at the milking stand and after about a week, the whole bottom of their feed tray is nothing but... alfalfa seeds.
I take them and spread them, just hoping they will grow in the pasture.
But, do you want that in your garden? I get about 5 pounds of seeds per bale of alfalfa hay. So think of that in terms of "weeds" taking up gardening space! You might be able to sift the alfalfa and have most of the seeds fall out, and leave mostly stems and leaves left for mulch.
Same suggestion on the alfalfa... wet it, let the seeds sprout, then turn it, until no more sprouting is happening... then use it. But, it will be a bit hot, due to being a legume and having nitrogen in it, it is not a base, like grass is.
Seeds!
Alfalfa is fantastic, it has roots that will go 25(?) feet deep and bring up needed minerals. It is fantastic for getting soil in good shape, and it is a legume, hence nitrogen fixing.
That said, it can be pretty invasive. And yet, us farmers would dearly love to have alfalfa invade our pastures. Alas, I can only grow clover, alfalfa, and grasses in my garden, where I don't have room for it!
I feed my goats alfalfa, at the milking stand and after about a week, the whole bottom of their feed tray is nothing but... alfalfa seeds.
I take them and spread them, just hoping they will grow in the pasture.
But, do you want that in your garden? I get about 5 pounds of seeds per bale of alfalfa hay. So think of that in terms of "weeds" taking up gardening space! You might be able to sift the alfalfa and have most of the seeds fall out, and leave mostly stems and leaves left for mulch.
Same suggestion on the alfalfa... wet it, let the seeds sprout, then turn it, until no more sprouting is happening... then use it. But, it will be a bit hot, due to being a legume and having nitrogen in it, it is not a base, like grass is.
-
gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
Alfalfa in any of it's forms it said to be a great compost addition due to it's rapid cooking and getting things going again in a lame pile.applestar wrote:I don't think any alfalfa grew out of the alfalfa mix bales of hay I used. They got wet the day I bought them -- I mentioned that in another thread -- and promptly started to mold and ferment. They got extremely hot too -- I could feel the heat coming off of them without even touching them.
-
gixxerific
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 5889
- Joined: Fri Jun 26, 2009 5:42 pm
- Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B
A few more words:
Ozark Lady wrote:One word:
Seeds!
Alfalfa is fantastic, it has roots that will go 25(?) feet deep and bring up needed minerals. I am down with that! It is fantastic for getting soil in good shape, and it is a legume, hence nitrogen fixing. Boom another plus!!
That said, it can be pretty invasive. Self sufficenat.. well sign me up!!
-
Ozark Lady
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1862
- Joined: Tue Jan 05, 2010 5:28 pm
- Location: NW Arkansas, USA zone 7A elevation 1561 feet
You're right alfalfa is wonderful. And as a feed for goats, they can just almost live exclusively on good quality alfalfa hay.
I did think of one thing... when they cut hay or alfalfa, they cut it more than once per season. It is always possible to get some that was cut before it set seeds. And then in a later cutting get lots and lots of seeds. So you might ask which cutting it was, 1st, 2nd or even 3rd in a good year.
And it just might make a difference in the amount of seed present.
But, getting hot as it composts will kill all the seeds.
I did think of one thing... when they cut hay or alfalfa, they cut it more than once per season. It is always possible to get some that was cut before it set seeds. And then in a later cutting get lots and lots of seeds. So you might ask which cutting it was, 1st, 2nd or even 3rd in a good year.
And it just might make a difference in the amount of seed present.
But, getting hot as it composts will kill all the seeds.
To my knowledge, all are nitrogen fixers except for the Buckwheat.gixxerific wrote:farmerlon you have a great plan there. That will be a great addition to your garden I believe most if not all of the crops you are using are nitrogen fixers.
Also, I suppose the Annual Ryegrass is not considered a nitrogen "fixer" (at the roots) ... but, the leaves should contain a lot of nitrogen when turned in to the soil.
I figured the Buckwheat would be a nice break (or rotation) in between all of those other legumes. I've used Buckwheat as a cover crop before, and have always been impressed at it's ability to block (shade out) weeds, and it also adds a nice amount of biomass to the soil.