Growing grass and improving soil without chemicals.

Long ago I started an experiment that I called "composting in place."  I have poor soil in my back yard and lots of shade.  That along with chickens leads to great difficulty growing grass.

I picked the spot in the picture below for this experiment.  It's low, well shaded, has hard packed soil, and sparse grass. 

March 30, 2013

I started by piling leaves there.  Lots of leaves.  The leaves were more than a foot deep, probably closer to 18 inches.  Then every so often I would throw in some oats.  The chickens would go in to eat the oats and turn over the leaves.  (Chickens love oats.) 

December 21, 2013

Occasionally during the summer months I would bag my grass clippings and dump them in there too.  Then I'd add oats and the chickens would turn in the grass clippings while looking for the oats.  My back yard is sloped.  Heavy rains would cause the partially composted material to go pile up at the edge.  I'd periodically have to get the rake out and move it back. 

July 26, 2014

I tried throwing some seeds down last fall, but they didn't do well.  I'm guess that there wasn't enough sun or that maybe it was still too hot.

September 25, 2014

By December (a year later) the entire area was covered with really great compost.  There were worms all through it.  I put a fence around the area to keep the chickens out.  They had done their job. 

December 31, 2014

In March, after the frost, I put down grass seed and some clover.  I watered the area twice a day.

April 3, 2015

March was a good time to start grass since it was still cool and the leaves weren't in on the trees yet.  This area actually got sunlight.  By April this area had more green than I had ever seen there.

April 18, 2015

By the middle of May everything had really taken off.  By this time the leaves were on the trees causing the yard to be shaded most of the day.  I managed to get this picture during a window when there was sun there.

May 14, 2015

The grass got so tall that I had to mow it!  I'm really happy with how it has turned out.  It's the best looking grass in the yard.

May 23, 2015

I still haven't taken down the fence.  I'm not sure when I'll do that.  I know as soon as I do the chickens will be in there tearing it up.  I might wait until there is snow on the ground. 

I call this composting in place idea successful, but it takes a long time.  Based on the pictures it took 17 months.  I probably starting piling leaves in that spot prior to the December 21 photo.  I wasn't in a hurry though, so I'm not going to complain.  I'm quite happy with the results.

Mid-Winter homestead update

Winter isn't the most exciting time around the old homestead.  I had plenty to do to keep me busy, but I didn't think much of it warranted a blog post.  So I'll just post it all here in a single update.

One of my more interesting projects was to create a bench for my fire ring. One of my coworkers sent out an email asking if anyone knew where he could get a 10' section of tree trunk with the bark removed.  I volunteered to help him. 

I have a lot of trees in my woods that need to come down.  I also own a draw knife.  I found a tree that looked like a good candidate and cut it down.  It was fairly straight with only a minor bend.  The lowest section was 10" in diameter.  I kept that to use as my bench.  A straighter section (with an 8" diameter) further up went to my coworker.

I used my draw knife to remove the bark from the trunk.  The log in the top of the picture below went to my coworker while I kept the bottom log.  It was much easier to remove the bark from the smaller of the two logs.

Once the bark was removed my son and I dragged it into the yard and set it up on two smaller log sections.

 That night we tested the bench by inviting some neighbors over for a campfire.

Leaves are one of the things that have kept me most busy.  I have a lot of oak trees and they drop a lot of leaves.  I spent at least four weekends cleaning them up.  I wouldn't bother if it wasn't for the fact that this year's leaves become next year's compost.

Leaves all over the back yard.

I used the leaf blower, multiple rakes, and the lawn mower to remove all of the leaves.  I found that blowing the leaves into the yard and then mulching them with the mower worked best.  Then I had to rake them onto a tarp or turn my blower into a vacuum and suck them up.  Then I'd move them to my compost bin.  It was a lot of work. 

  The fall and winter is a good time to split wood.  That's a project that isn't fun to do in the summer heat. 

I have a lot of wood piles from all of the trees that I've taken down.  This is after taking multiple van loads on camping trips with the Cub scouts.

 

There isn't a lot going on in the garden right now.  I have kale growing all over the place, but that's about it.  There might be some lettuce and spinach hanging on as well, but I haven't really looked.

I had the week off of work between Christmas and New Year's.  That gave me the time to tackle some bigger projects.  The biggest of which was spreading mulch.  I had 20 yards delivered on a Tuesday morning.  I thought that I'd be able to get it all moved by the end of Saturday. 

I started moving wheel barrow loads of mulch right after the dump truck left.  I took a break for lunch and then got back to moving mulch.  Not long after that my neighbor came over and offered to help.  He brought his wheel barrow. 

He and I were able to move the entire pile of mulch that afternoon!  We finished 30 minutes or so before it got dark.  I put my shovels and tools away and swept the driveway.  Then the next morning I got the rake out and spread the piles of mulch that we had dumped everywhere. 

I kept a buffer zone between the mulch and the grass.  The chickens tend to scratch and peck and move the mulch into the yard.  Then every 3 days or so I have to go around and rake it back to where it belongs. 

All of the chickens are doing well.  The new ones we got in November have integrated into the flock.  They're all one big happy group now.  I haven't been keeping a real close count on the egg production, but I'd guess that we get 4 a week.  Hopefully those new birds will start laying in the spring.  I think our Rhode Island Red is the only bird that lays regularly right now. 

I think I've posted pictures from the most interesting things that have happened around here.  Thankfully Spring is just around the corner.  I'll probably start seeds for the garden in the next month or so.  I can hardly wait.

Growing grass with chickens (again)

Earlier this month I wrote a post saying that I had stuff growing in my in-place compost.  It didn't last.  Between the chickens and the heavy rain we had last week all of the green is gone.

The rain really made a mess of things.  I raked the area to level it out.  I need something to grow there quick.  I need root structure to hold everything in place.  I threw my 2x4 screened box to the one side.  Then I scattered winter rye over the entire area.  (Winter rye germinates down to something like 35*.) 

It didn't take long for the chickens to find that seed.  In the past I've put up netting to keep them out.  I didn't want to deal with that today.  The deer haven't been bothering my garden this year, so I thought I'd use the scarecrow to keep the chickens away. 

The scarecrow is a motion activated water sprinkler.  It works great!  I wasn't able to get video or pictures, but the few times the chickens have ventured into this area they set the thing off.  The water spraying spooks them and they take off.  Even the dog has avoided going near there. 

I have it on its most sensitive setting.  It went off frequently today.  That's fine.  It's keeping the new seed watered.  The biggest problem I have had with the scarecrow is that it eats batteries.  Having it on the highest sensitivity probably won't help with that.

In place composting experiment continues

A little less than a year ago I threw shredded leaves all over a low spot in my back yard in hopes that they would compost in place.  I'm pretty pleased with the results so far.  It's clear that a lot of the leaves have broken down.  When I walk through there and kick over the remaining shredded leaves I find earthworms everywhere.  There's a lot of life in and under there.

The question now is, how do I transition this area back into yard?  I'm not sure I have the best answer to that, but I can tell you what I've done so far.  Last month I sorted through my seeds.  I found a lot of carrot seeds that were old.  They got tossed into this area.  I also found turnip and rutabaga seeds that I didn't even know I had.  I threw a bunch of those down too.  Then I threw down some of my cover crop seed, clover, wheat, and hairy vetch.  Now this area is turning green with more life.

I don't know if the combination of what I put down was a good idea or not.  The carrots, turnips and rutabagas are root crops.  I figured they would put down tap roots that would break up the hard soil under this new compost (and provide something to eat).  That's my theory anyway.  I don't know if it'll work.

The cover crops, the wheat, and hairy vetch should grow some root structures to hold the compost in place.  They also provide green material that will die or be cut down to add more compostable material to the area. 

Amazingly enough, the chickens have left this new growth alone.  I haven't seen them in this area at all.  Normally they get into and eat whatever they can.  Maybe fear of being eaten by a hawk is keeping them from venturing too far into the yard.

Using cover crops to improve bad soil

I've written in the past that I have bad soil in my back yard.  I've made multiple attempts to get grass to grow.  It's a lot of effort and I have other things to do.

I thought it might be easier if I focuses on smaller areas.  I'm also going to get nature to do the work.

My old chicken tractor rotted and fell apart, but the wire mesh screen on it is still good.  Removing the screen was a pain, but it was worth saving. 

 

I built a wooden frame out of pressure treated 2x4 lumber and attached the screen to it.

Then I went to the nearest bare spot in my yard.  This soil is bad.  It's sandy on the surface and compacted and hard just below that.

I found tiller radish at the gardening store the other day.  I thought I'd give it a try.  Supposedly it grows a 32" tap root that'll break up hard soil. 

I also picked up some organic wheat.  I figured I'd throw some of this down and the chickens could eat it.  It'll also put down roots and grow green matter that can be used as mulch or composted.  I probably could have used plain old grass, but I thought I'd give this a try.

I threw some compost on the ground to give the seeds something to germinate in.  As soon as it hit the ground the chickens came to investigate.  They seem to think that everything I do is for them.

I placed my newly built box-screen-contraption thing over the compost and threw down some seed.  The chickens were clearly irritated.  They could see the seed, but couldn't get to it.

 It didn't take long at all for the wheat to germinate.

September 10, 2014

September 12, 2014

September 21, 2014

The wheat grew so fast that I don't know if the tiller radish is working or not.  I'll have to move the screened box and try this again just the radish and no wheat.  Then at some point I'll need to figure out how to get actual grass to grow here.  I haven't thought that far ahead...

Composting in place

I've written before about the difficulties I've had getting grass to grow in my back yard.  Part of the problem is that the chickens eat whatever I put down.  The other problems are a lack of sun and poor soil.  So, I'm attempting to improve the soil.

I get a lot of leaves in my yard in the fall.

This year rather than hauling the leaves to my compost bins, and hauling the compost back to my yard, I thought I'd try composting in place.

I gave in and finally bought a leaf blower/vac.  I don't know if it was actually faster than using a rake, but it was much more satisfying.  The leaf blower has a vacuum attachment.  It'll suck up, shred, and bag the leaves.  Once the bag got full I dumped it in a low spot in my yard. 

The next part of the plan involves the chickens.  They're always getting into stuff, so I figure why not let them turn the compost pile (Joel Salatin does the same thing with pigs on a much bigger scale).  I don't know if it'll work or not, but I thought it'd be worth trying.

I've been throwing oats, and bird seed into the leaves.  They scratch, peck and turn it over.  I'm sure they're adding plenty of their nitrogen filled byproduct along the way. 

This is a wider shot of the area.  It's a low spot in the yard where I've never gotten grass to grow.

I don't know how well this is going to work.  Only time will tell.  I'm hoping that in a few months I'll have something that resembles soil and that I'll be able to grow some grass in it.

Oh those silly chickens...

I spent months trying to get grass to grow in my back yard.  Some of the areas hadn't had grass since we moved in.  I got it to grow, and it looked great.  

This spot was void of grass since we moved in nearly two years ago.

Now the spot in the picture above looks like the picture below.  The chickens picked it clean!

Here's another area that was bare when we moved in.  They're still working on making that way again.

Oh look, some of the culprits.

They might look innocent, but they really are destructive birds.

I try to focus on the positive.  They aren't eating my lawn, they're helping to cut down on what I spend on chicken feed!

Back yard grass follow up

I finally got grass to grow in my back yard.  And now the chickens are already starting to tear it up.

I have an entire back yard for them to wander around and they have to go for the area that hasn't had grass since I moved in (until just recently anyway).  There is a lot of clover in that area.  I'm guessing that's what they are after.  I'd prefer that they just eat the tops, and not scratch it up.  Oh well, I eat their eggs so I guess they figure that they can eat my yard.

Final Grass Update

I have grass in my yard!

This is what it looked like a few months ago.

Now it looks like this! 

I figured that it had been long enough.  It was time to take down the netting.  We've been keeping the chickens fenced in by the coop.  So I'm not worried about them tearing up this nice new lawn.

I threw down a lot of clover along with fescue, and a little bit of winter rye, and alfalfa.  

  

I did run the mower over it.  I bagged the clippings and dumped them in front of the chicken coop.  The chickens went nuts.  They all gathered around for a buffet.  I guess they've been missing the greens.

I still have plenty of patches of yard that need grass. I don't know if I'll do anything about it or not.  The leaves have come in and my back yard is shaded most of the day now.  I might have to wait until next spring.  Oh well, it's not as bad as it was.