Developing the grass in your yard for increasing free ranging nutrition

[ChickenCanoe]

Almost everything will grow toward the sun. For instance, if you have afternoon shade, things will grow east and vice versa. Mostly south though if you're in the northern hemisphere.
I sometimes tilt newly planted trees slightly northward.

ETA

The so called 'walking palm' is supposed to use its roots to move toward light over time. It is a relative of the tree that produces 'hearts of palm'. The pecibaye has been grown as a substitute because it has side shoots that can be harvested without killing the tree.

 

[Arielle]

THen it was to the south. That will helpme plan the next plot: start the most southern section and work north. That will work well.

Very interesting about the walking palm!! I haven't eaten hearts of palm in years. , though I do wonder now that you brought it up what special nutrients might be lurking in the hearts of palm. ( I"m on a quest to try the old types of vegies, espcially those with lots of B17)

 

[Beekissed]

Here's a few pics of our baby garden...just getting started and the clover is all brand new in the pathways.....

 

[chickadoodles]

Your gardens look wonderful Bee!

 

[Beekissed]

Looks don't count if it doesn't produce.....I'll get back to you about if it yields enough to be worth the effort.

I have to admit, I love the neatness of the clover in the paths....it looks so gardeny....like you could walk in there and sink your bare toes into the softness of the green...which I do and it feels just like it looks. Lovely. Can't do that later, when it all blooms....bees!

 

[chickadoodles]

Looks don't count if it doesn't produce.....I'll get back to you about if it yields enough to be worth the effort.

I have to admit, I love the neatness of the clover in the paths....it looks so gardeny....like you could walk in there and sink your bare toes into the softness of the green...which I do and it feels just like it looks. Lovely. Can't do that later, when it all blooms....bees!

It looks like it will give some wonderful bounty Bee. Yes the clover does add just the perfect touch to the garden.
I hope to see some pics later when it is going in full bounty.

We have alot of clover here in Alabama on our property and the chickens and cows love it. It just grows till it gets hot then it dies off here.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Looks don't count if it doesn't produce.....I'll get back to you about if it yields enough to be worth the effort.

I have to admit, I love the neatness of the clover in the paths....it looks so gardeny....like you could walk in there and sink your bare toes into the softness of the green...which I do and it feels just like it looks. Lovely. Can't do that later, when it all blooms....bees!

The garden looks beautiful. Beauty and neatness is a good starting point. What is growing in the first picture?

The clover just started blooming here about 2 weeks ago. I'm picking up 2 bee nucs Saturday morning. Can't wait to get them going.
I had bees for years but lost the last of the hives early last year. I'm going to give it all I've got this time. I have way too much invested in equipment.

 

[Beekissed]

The garden looks beautiful. Beauty and neatness is a good starting point. What is growing in the first picture?

The clover just started blooming here about 2 weeks ago. I'm picking up 2 bee nucs Saturday morning. Can't wait to get them going.
I had bees for years but lost the last of the hives early last year. I'm going to give it all I've got this time. I have way too much invested in equipment.

Kudos for not giving up! I think everyone needs more bees and if anyone can keep them, they should keep them. This is my mother's place, so it's her decision....they had bees when we were homesteading and she's not against it, but we just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I got bees some years ago and made my own top bar hive, but we had a huge drought that year and I didn't feed them when I should have....which would have been all summer long due to that drought...but they consumed all their honey and swarmed sometime during the time from one hive check to the next, so it was a set of unfortunate circumstances. Someone told me they saw them up on the mountain but they told me 3 days too late to go get them back and they were already gone.

I'm not a natural with bees as they make me nervous, but my mother is, though she is very allergic....but I think they are simply wonderful! I love everything about how they work, live and produce and how valuable they are to the Earth.



In the larger garden we are only growing tomatoes(a few cherry (Matt's), some beefsteak and regular slicing tomatoes), sweet peppers, cukes, hot peppers, yellow squash and sweet onions. In the smaller garden we are growing our salad stuff...lettuce, spinach, radishes, sugar snap peas and we also have a few hot peppers and sweet onions that wouldn't fit into the bigger garden.

This year we are doing primarily heirloom seeds/types of tomatoes because in our last garden they performed the best. I started them inside in a large porcelain serving tray left over from the 70s and I placed it in the window on a heating pad. Some of the types didn't germinate well but the Brandywines and Tigerellas did very well. We also picked up a few from a nursery to fill in the spaces that were left empty and those were just Hillbillies and Jetstars.

The onions are Candies and the peppers are just Hungarian Wax and California Wonders for the most part with a few rainbow sweet pepper varieties. The cukes were an heirloom seed called Boston something or other...they are a small cuke. We hope to trellis them on the same fence we will trellis the tomatoes upon. Will be putting up those trellises(cattle panels, of course) before too long and before the maters get too tall.

The lettuce varieties are heirloom varieties as well, as was the spinach....can't remember all the names of those. Just trying to get back to basics on the plants as it seems like the nursery stock they sell now is not very hardy at all, no matter where you source them.

Ordered all the seeds from Pinetree Seed Co....they seem to have the best prices on heirloom seeds and also have prompt delivery.

 

[Arielle]

Bee , what is the "plastic" mulch-- doesn't quite look like plastic?

In the p ast I have tried using plastic woven grain bags-- NOT the best idea. It breaks down quickly into bits of plastic. Really bothers me. I cannot returen them for reuse; the company won't change back to paper . . . . just hate the plastic woven bags. I like the idea of a mulch that is eco friendly. Maybe heaps of composted horse manure.

 

[Beekissed]

Bee , what is the "plastic" mulch-- doesn't quite look like plastic?

In the p ast I have tried using plastic woven grain bags-- NOT the best idea. It breaks down quickly into bits of plastic. Really bothers me. I cannot returen them for reuse; the company won't change back to paper . . . . just hate the plastic woven bags. I like the idea of a mulch that is eco friendly. Maybe heaps of composted horse manure.

That's suppression cloth...it's a very thin, very tough, perforated plastic that allows moisture and air but no sunlight. A little pricey for my taste but we wanted to try it at least once. Normally I just mulch all the rows with old hay.