What do you grow to feed the chickens??

[Arielle]

Quote: Hi Hagar, I"m muddling thru what to plant here. Reading lots of web sites to get a feel for all the variety of grasses on the market. I can plant kale here, white clove. It is the hugae variety of grasses that messes me up and confuses me. My next planting season for the grasses will be the fall when the cool weather comes along with the rain. THis summer has been dry so far. Some rains but not often enough.

 

[HerbGir1972]

Hi Hagar, I"m muddling thru what to plant here. Reading lots of web sites to get a feel for all the variety of grasses on the market. I can plant kale here, white clove. It is the hugae variety of grasses that messes me up and confuses me. My next planting season for the grasses will be the fall when the cool weather comes along with the rain. THis summer has been dry so far. Some rains but not often enough.

If you check out Sand Hills Preservation (Heirloom plants & Heritage Poultry) They have a cool weather and a warm weather planting package for poultry.

But we specifically planted extra basils, sunflowers, Monarda, and deliberately grow out some weeds now to give our flock more greens. (Grass clippings and I even bring home some of the green stuffs I weed out of my business beds)

We are growing an extra row or two of mixed greens for the chickadees in the winter, Includes kales, chards, mustards, / for late autumn were laying a row of cress & lettuces,

 

[Arielle]

THank you for the suggestion of looking at Sand HIll for mixes.

Love that you are thinking of the song birds in winter. THere numbers are dwindling.

 

[Highcotton]

Hi Hagar, I"m muddling thru what to plant here. Reading lots of web sites to get a feel for all the variety of grasses on the market. I can plant kale here, white clove. It is the hugae variety of grasses that messes me up and confuses me. My next planting season for the grasses will be the fall when the cool weather comes along with the rain. THis summer has been dry so far. Some rains but not often enough.

White Clover is a perennial and it is hard to get rid of. Crimson Clover is an annual and it dies back in the early spring. It does reseed but it germinates and grows in the fall and winter here.

 

[chickadoodles]

Our cows love the clover in the early spring but we have to be careful where we walk till it's died off for the year. If ya know what I mean....

 

[Arielle]

THose cow patties should be big enough to side step!!!

Caught Blue Boy's BLack Boy ( yea that mouthful is his name! lol) jumping in front of a bush-- then I realized he was stealing the blackberries off that bush. Oddly he was NOT calling any girls over to eat. Gobbled up the berries himself, those that were ripe, leaving the green and red ones for another day. THat boy was not sharing!

 

[Arielle]

Quote: hmm, maybe that is why white clover holds up to foot traffic. Someone uses it in the walk ways between garden beds. . . I thought that was very clever.

 

[lazy gardener]

I have a LOT of white clover in my yard. It is a love hate relationship. It is low growing and fixes nitorgen. Both a + for the homeowner who is interested in having a green lawn and doesn't need that golf green look... But the clover is also a great bee forage crop. Again, a +... except: unless I keep the lawn mowed short and often, the lawn is covered with clover blossoms and bees. I got nailed by a honey bee last week, and did not quickly forget the encounter. If you have young children, you might want to try something else. I wouldn't put it in my garden... it's a vigorous spreader.

 

[Arielle]

I'm betting your garden space looks a little more traditional than mine. lol

 

[lazy gardener]

Bu this time of year, I consider myself an accomplished gymnast... able to leap over an out of bounds squash plant in multiple bounds! Stuff is sprawling all over the place, and i have to tip- toe dance through the garden to harvest stuff. Partly because i try to cram too many plants into too small a space, mostly to keep the peace with my better half. We have irreconcileable differences re: my garden passion, and his lawn passion. If not for having to share the yard, my garden would take up far more room. But it's good that i have limits b/c otherwise, I'd continue growing more and more... with no way to eat it all, care for it all, or harvest and store it all.