Do you use cover crops in your backyard garden? Let us know! Get Coop Gro Fertilizer Here: lazydogfarm.com/products/coop-gro-fertilizer 0:00 Intro 0:39 How to Exclude Weeds from Your Garden 3:02 Using a Chicken Tractor to Graze Cover Crops 6:30 Why Don't More People Do This? 8:01 Planting a Warm Season Cover Crop Cocktail
I have great luck with cover crops since you introduced me to the concept. However, I find that when I rake them in, they tend to clump up and not fill the area evenly. I have had much better luck using the disc harrow attachment on my wheel hoe, which ends up making very regular, closely spaced rows of the cover crop. (It's also faster than raking.)
Thank you for your wonderful videos. We do eat purslane in our salad mix. I even sell purslane at my farmers' market stand for adventursome patrons. The leaves are tender, a little lemony and everyone seems to enjoy eating the flowers! God bless you and your family.
I like your chicken tractor Travis. Here is a suggestion. Paint your Lazy Dog logo on the the plywood. It would look good and help protect the wood. Hey, maybe sell some ad space to affiliated companies $$$.
I really enjoy your cover crop videos. Very interesting and informative. Going to be starting my fall garden seeds this week along with flowers. My entire fall and winter will be dedicated to getting my new garden area prepared and fenced in in time for my spring garden. Keep up the great work, and thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge. I know it is a lot of work, and it is very much appreciated. Stay safe with the hurricane coming your way.
I am appreciating your channel more and more. Your soil is looking beautiful! Question- i hv a fairly typical backyard garden. (Raised bed and raised rows.) I don’t till either. How can I do a cover crop? After it reaches desired maturity, do I mow it and leave debris in garden bed and use it as mulch to break down over winter? Or just leave it and let it die back? Btw, I live in SE Wisconsin, zone 5B.
Chickens on pasture fertilizes fields, lowers tic and fly numbers, grows healthy birds. Birds eat different plants on pasture than other ruminants…. Both your system and theirs are very beneficial 😊
After reading a few of the books by these folks, I think quite a few who run chickens on pasture aren't planning on stopping at the chickens. They run the chickens as a harvest until they can afford cattle then "upgrade".
First time doing cover cropping. Did one small area with Sunn Hemp and another area with Buckwheat. Definitely sowed the seeds to thin. Going to do more in a couple of days and MUCH thicker this time! As always Thank You for the great videos!
Research is showing that growing a cover crop and tilling it in does not really improve your soil. Now growing a cover crop and having chickens graze certainly does improve your soil. Great job Travis.
I will say that the chickens grazing the cover crop is a double yes. Then I will respectfully disagree with your "fact" and tilling it in does not help!
I did similar for raised beds in Austin using sweet potatoes, buckwheat and cowpeas. They survive Austin summer heat nicely and can be chopped and droped for fall planting or composting. Next summer i will do an editable cowpea which fixes nitrogen too.
Travis, great video!! I don't have chickens and was wondering if I could plant some ground beans, like kidney or black beans?? Have you tried them as a cover crop?
Hey Travis, a lot of folks graze cattle or sheep ahead of those pastured birds. It helps cut the pest cycle for the ruminants and stacks uses for the same amount of land. Hope y'all are well.
Not as nicely said as that person: the poultry eats the fly larvae in the poop left behind by the big animals. Has anyone done this with pigs grazing a cover crop? Does the CC, along with house and vegetable scraps, supply good nutrition for them, among the different breeds?
Damned purslane never goes away! My sister carries on about how it's edible and good for you. I keep telling her she can come pick all the purslane she wants, but haven't seen it yet....lol. Lovin' that grass, sunflower, and pea cover combination. Sunflowers are amazing for your soil and garden in general. Put that together with those other two... should be a winner. Keep up the good work Travis!
How will a cover crop work on bindweed? I've been battling it for over 2 years now. Some say it may take up to five years to eradicate it. Have you ever dealt with it in your farm?
We don't really have issues with bindweed here. It's mostly pigweed, purslane, and crabgrass. All three of those are pretty persistent, so I would imagine it would work for bindweed as well.
When my grandmother was visiting me in the mid-70s in California, she saw that we had purslane. She called it lindside weed, as she said it was about the only thing that grew where she was born in Lindside, WV.
One reason they might do pastured poultry instead of cover crop chickens is to eliminate the cost of seed. I would imagine the protein of a cover crop would be much higher than most pastures. I like seeing what you're doing. It's inspiring.
*Stop hating on purslane Travis lol Purslane portulaca oleracea is great fermented and crunchier than most fermented pickles. You can season it the same way. Not as good as pickled okra - but pretty close.*
Lol. I use to work at a garden center. One week people would come in and buy purselane and porta laca and 2 months later they were back buying weed control for purselane and porta laca lol.
I see a whole pile of biomass from roots in the soil. I'm sure between the chickens and the beens you are getting a good deposit of nitrogen and other nutrients in the soil. I think you need a couple more birds myself. JMO. Yes you do things differently than me but results are the end result we all look for.
We grow Balansa clover and Berseem clover, which I like much better than Crimson. But we can't plant clover down here usually until October. Too hot to plant it now.
Hey Travis up here in Chatsworth Georgia. Great video. Have you ever had an issue growing stuff near a tree line? My plants do great but about 10 ft from my property/tree line , can't get nothing to thrive.. any ideas ?
Yeah I've got a few fig trees near that pine tree line that don't do as well as some of our others. Probably has something to do with the trees sucking the nutrients.
The tree roots extended out as far as the branches. The closer you are to the trunk the harder it becomes to grow. It’s with anything. Other than the weeds who are extremely drought resistant. The size of those roots won’t allow anything else around it grow if it can’t compete.
You need some room I say 1/5 bare preparation space 1/5 cover crop feed synthetics 3/5 main crops fed thee 1/5 cover crop that was fed with synthetics thus allowing us too pull up extra fertilzer from ground ,air Mass weight fixing nitrogen for free and pulling extra potassium phosphorus everything.
Travis , get a video of before, and after the Hurricane . Hate to say it, but looks like your going to get lots of wind and rain ! Hope you do ok, but be prepared ! No power, gas for generator , chainsaw , ect,ect. Be prepared !!
Do you use cover crops in your backyard garden? Let us know!
Get Coop Gro Fertilizer Here: lazydogfarm.com/products/coop-gro-fertilizer
0:00 Intro
0:39 How to Exclude Weeds from Your Garden
3:02 Using a Chicken Tractor to Graze Cover Crops
6:30 Why Don't More People Do This?
8:01 Planting a Warm Season Cover Crop Cocktail
I have great luck with cover crops since you introduced me to the concept. However, I find that when I rake them in, they tend to clump up and not fill the area evenly. I have had much better luck using the disc harrow attachment on my wheel hoe, which ends up making very regular, closely spaced rows of the cover crop. (It's also faster than raking.)
Great video!!!
Thank you for your wonderful videos.
We do eat purslane in our salad mix. I even sell purslane at my farmers' market stand for adventursome patrons. The leaves are tender, a little lemony and everyone seems to enjoy eating the flowers!
God bless you and your family.
I like your chicken tractor Travis. Here is a suggestion. Paint your Lazy Dog logo on the the plywood. It would look good and help protect the wood. Hey, maybe sell some ad space to affiliated companies $$$.
I really enjoy your cover crop videos. Very interesting and informative. Going to be starting my fall garden seeds this week along with flowers. My entire fall and winter will be dedicated to getting my new garden area prepared and fenced in in time for my spring garden. Keep up the great work, and thanks again for sharing your time and knowledge. I know it is a lot of work, and it is very much appreciated. Stay safe with the hurricane coming your way.
I am appreciating your channel more and more. Your soil is looking beautiful! Question- i hv a fairly typical backyard garden. (Raised bed and raised rows.) I don’t till either. How can I do a cover crop? After it reaches desired maturity, do I mow it and leave debris in garden bed and use it as mulch to break down over winter? Or just leave it and let it die back? Btw, I live in SE Wisconsin, zone 5B.
I think you have a great system. Well thought out process and obviously works.
He's the only garden UA-camr that has it figured out. His system works and he usually has great results.
Chickens on pasture fertilizes fields, lowers tic and fly numbers, grows healthy birds. Birds eat different plants on pasture than other ruminants…. Both your system and theirs are very beneficial 😊
After reading a few of the books by these folks, I think quite a few who run chickens on pasture aren't planning on stopping at the chickens. They run the chickens as a harvest until they can afford cattle then "upgrade".
I hope that storm wasn't too rough on y'all.
Wasn't too bad here.
First time doing cover cropping. Did one small area with Sunn Hemp and another area with Buckwheat. Definitely sowed the seeds to thin. Going to do more in a couple of days and MUCH thicker this time! As always Thank You for the great videos!
Research is showing that growing a cover crop and tilling it in does not really improve your soil. Now growing a cover crop and having chickens graze certainly does improve your soil. Great job Travis.
I will say that the chickens grazing the cover crop is a double yes. Then I will respectfully disagree with your "fact" and tilling it in does not help!
I did similar for raised beds in Austin using sweet potatoes, buckwheat and cowpeas. They survive Austin summer heat nicely and can be chopped and droped for fall planting or composting. Next summer i will do an editable cowpea which fixes nitrogen too.
"a gracious plenty"
Nice cover crop
Enjoy all of your videos but wish you showed us some of the cover crop seed planting. I would give anything to see how to plant it so thick.
We just throw it by hand and pull that rake along the soil in straight lines. It's really nothing fancy.
Happy Chickens ❤
The Sunflowers can always be eaten or given to the chickens once grown in the cover crop😀🇦🇺
Travis, great video!! I don't have chickens and was wondering if I could plant some ground beans, like kidney or black beans?? Have you tried them as a cover crop?
If they make it to seed, those sunflowers will be great to keep in the barn and toss to the chickens for a fall/winter treat.
Hey Travis, a lot of folks graze cattle or sheep ahead of those pastured birds. It helps cut the pest cycle for the ruminants and stacks uses for the same amount of land. Hope y'all are well.
Not as nicely said as that person: the poultry eats the fly larvae in the poop left behind by the big animals.
Has anyone done this with pigs grazing a cover crop? Does the CC, along with house and vegetable scraps, supply good nutrition for them, among the different breeds?
Damned purslane never goes away! My sister carries on about how it's edible and good for you. I keep telling her she can come pick all the purslane she wants, but haven't seen it yet....lol. Lovin' that grass, sunflower, and pea cover combination. Sunflowers are amazing for your soil and garden in general. Put that together with those other two... should be a winner. Keep up the good work Travis!
How will a cover crop work on bindweed? I've been battling it for over 2 years now. Some say it may take up to five years to eradicate it. Have you ever dealt with it in your farm?
We don't really have issues with bindweed here. It's mostly pigweed, purslane, and crabgrass. All three of those are pretty persistent, so I would imagine it would work for bindweed as well.
@@LazyDogFarm thank you for responding Travis!
Thanks for the information and video ❤
When my grandmother was visiting me in the mid-70s in California, she saw that we had purslane. She called it lindside weed, as she said it was about the only thing that grew where she was born in Lindside, WV.
One reason they might do pastured poultry instead of cover crop chickens is to eliminate the cost of seed. I would imagine the protein of a cover crop would be much higher than most pastures. I like seeing what you're doing. It's inspiring.
It has as much to do with nutrition for the soil as much as to feed the birds.
Most pasture hens I see are rotated every other day and you were correct...they are meat birds! Great video T!
Great vid, Sir! ❤
Oh I hope that you show us how you handle the mature cocktail, the last time I planted sorghum Sudan I had to use a spade to get it out!
Because most have other animals not just chickens. We use the chickens to fertilize the pastures
What were the three seeds that you used as that cover for the chickens?
*Stop hating on purslane Travis lol Purslane portulaca oleracea is great fermented and crunchier than most fermented pickles. You can season it the same way. Not as good as pickled okra - but pretty close.*
Lol. I use to work at a garden center. One week people would come in and buy purselane and porta laca and 2 months later they were back buying weed control for purselane and porta laca lol.
lol Purslane actually tastes good at least!
Where did u get the soybean seed?
I see a whole pile of biomass from roots in the soil. I'm sure between the chickens and the beens you are getting a good deposit of nitrogen and other nutrients in the soil. I think you need a couple more birds myself. JMO. Yes you do things differently than me but results are the end result we all look for.
I noticed you haven’t used Crimson clover. Is there a reason. It is annual and puts nitrogen in your soil.
We grow Balansa clover and Berseem clover, which I like much better than Crimson. But we can't plant clover down here usually until October. Too hot to plant it now.
Question: is it ok to plant a cover crop of buckwheat like on Sept 1 ??
I live in East Tennessee!! Zone 7A.
Thanks
Yeah that should be fine. Buckwheat is pretty fast.
Hey Travis up here in Chatsworth Georgia. Great video. Have you ever had an issue growing stuff near a tree line? My plants do great but about 10 ft from my property/tree line , can't get nothing to thrive.. any ideas ?
Yeah I've got a few fig trees near that pine tree line that don't do as well as some of our others. Probably has something to do with the trees sucking the nutrients.
The tree roots extended out as far as the branches. The closer you are to the trunk the harder it becomes to grow. It’s with anything. Other than the weeds who are extremely drought resistant. The size of those roots won’t allow anything else around it grow if it can’t compete.
I keep herding that feeding your birds soil beads isn’t a good idea.
You need some room I say 1/5 bare preparation space 1/5 cover crop feed synthetics 3/5 main crops fed thee 1/5 cover crop that was fed with synthetics thus allowing us too pull up extra fertilzer from ground ,air Mass weight fixing nitrogen for free and pulling extra potassium phosphorus everything.
Where did you get your sorghum seeds
Green Cover Seed online
Travis , get a video of before, and after the Hurricane . Hate to say it, but looks like your going to get lots of wind and rain ! Hope you do ok, but be prepared ! No power, gas for generator , chainsaw , ect,ect. Be prepared !!
We'll get some stuff from it, but it looks like it's going a little east of us at the moment.
I hope so, but it shifted a little to the west this morning. Is the corn ready to harvest ? Might lay it down. Stay safe and good luck.@@LazyDogFarm
Feed crops too crops and you see thee profit gathering cash for next too nothing.