Pasture Renovation
(Page 2 of 3)
September/October 1980
By Will Rowan
You can renovate a pasture in either spring or fall, depending upon your purpose. If you want to revive old grasses—or if you're sowing red clover and lespedeza seed—you should till as early in the year as possible. On the other hand, plan to renovate only in late summer or early fall if you're trying to bring back a stand of clover (without reseeding), or if you're going to introduce alfalfa, crimson clover, and most other grasses. (Although you can spread the lime and fertilizer before or after tilling, I like to do it beforehand . . . allowing some of those nutrients to be incorporated into the soil by the spinning tines.)
RELATED CONTENT
BUTCHER'S BLADES, WHICH TO OWN AND HOW TO HOME January/February 1985 Here's the last of our three-p...
Learn how to properly sharpen woodworking tools, including chisels....
Shaving with a straight razor is a very simple idea that will preserve your face — and in some smal...
Try out these great cold-weather recipes: Esther Shuttleworth's beer bread, Norma Morgan's graham c...
Large seeded grasses (such as rye) do well if sown before the tilling process . . . legumes and small grass seeds germinate more easily if they're spread on the surface alter you've disturbed the turf.
HOW MANY PASSES?
One or two circuits of the field with your home-fashioned harrow—following the natural contours of the land—should break up the old roots enough to restore vigorous growth ... even though several grasses (such as Bermuda, Bahia, and sodbound fescue) may require additional passes. You'll find, too, that heavy loams and clays need more tilling than do sandy soils.
ADVANTAGES OF THE SYSTEM
A number of homesteaders seem to be somewhat disdainful of any dual-purpose equipment (such as the retrofit setup I've described here) and prefer—instead—to use separate tillage machinery for each operation. It is true that, using a three point hitch, it's easy to drop off a mower or tiller and hook on a new set of straight disks when you're ready for a day of pasture renovation. But changing the blades in your rotovator takes only about an hour every couple of years . . . and it gives you an opportunity to sharpen and service the standard tilling tines (a chore that's all too easy to forget when the blades are never removed from the machine). That bit of maintenance, in turn, benefits both you and your land .. . since sharp tines conserve fuel, reduce vibration, and do a far better job than do dull blades.
