Planting Pasture the Fukuoka Way

One of our seasonal chores is planting pasture. I have a long list of blog posts about my attempts to establish sustainable pasture, and admit it's been a slow road. Like so many other things on our homestead, we had much to learn. 

Initially, we simply broadcast seed and hoped for the best. Birds ate quite a bit of it, which is expected and why seeding rates for broadcasting are so much higher than for seed drilling. Dan has wanted a seed drill for some time, but we haven't found one yet at a price we can pay. So I've experimented with other methods. 

One experiment that has worked pretty well is what I call my "modified Fukuoka method." This method covers the seed with dirty barn litter as mulch. It's worked well enough so that we've gradually made progress to the point where we no longer have huge patches of bare soil to plant. Now, planting is mostly seasonal spot seeding. 

Last month, I added another One-Straw Revolution inspired technique - seed pellets. This is similar to the seed bombs I showed you last fall. The difference is that they aren't formed into balls, but spread out to dry as pellets. The bombs were fun, but the pellets let me spread the seed more evenly, so I think I prefer this method for my purposes. (The "bombs" are great for lobbing into a hard to reach area.)

For spring planting, I made my pellets with two forage mixes and a pasture seed mix, plus whatever seed I had handy such as clover, turnips, echinacea, oregano, sunflowers, sugar beets, etc. 

Mr. Fukuoka simply mixed seed and clay to form his pellets.
I followed the idea for the seed bombs and added compost.

Mix by hand (adjusting ingredients) until the seed is covered.

Seed pellets. I think the technique is better suited to smaller seeds.

Drying in the sun. I stirred it occasionally for even drying.

To plant, I took a bucketful and looked for spots of bare soil.

I think the pellets disguise the seed pretty well!

Making the pellets is a pleasant afternoon job for shade. I think as long as they are thoroughly dried, they will keep. So a large quantity could be set by for the next season. 

I planted this batch a few days before rain was forecast. I'm curious as to whether the rain will wash the clay off, and how they'll grow. I'm hopeful that this will help fill in the bare spots in the pasture with increased plant diversity. It's fun to experiment like this!

Planting Pasture the Fukuoka Way © May 2021

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com

Chicken News

Our Dominique hens are now residing in Dan's chicken tractor. You may recall we initially moved them in as chicks. We had twelve chicks, however, so they quickly outgrew the chicken tractor and were moved into the chicken coop. Turned out nine of those twelve were roosters. We kept one and thought all was well until a hawk or owl got the rooster. Then a neighboring allowed-to-roam dog killed one of our three hens, so we're down to two. 

Our ideal number of chickens is six hens plus a rooster, so I looked around for more chicks. I finally found a breed we liked at our family-owned feedstore. 

These little gals are Speckled Sussex, one of Dan's favorite breeds. I was hoping for another batch of straight run (unsexed), but all that was offered was pullets. These come with a 90% guarantee of correct sexing, so I'm hoping we got at least one cockerel in the bunch! We need a rooster! I've got them in the house for now, and will move them to a brooder box in the chicken coop when they get a little bigger.

The other chicken news involves our neighbor. The other night I went out onto the kitchen porch and heard loud crackling and popping. I looked outside toward the noise and saw a humongous ball of fire next door. One of our neighbor's chicken coops was on fire. 

Dan and I ran over as fast as we could to help. The little building was made of plywood and pallets, and had created a ferocious blaze. My neighbor was hysterical and crying "They're in there! They're in there!" Someone had the garden hose going, but the water pressure was so low it wasn't making much of an effect. Fortunately, these neighbors have an above ground swimming pool, so I grabbed the nearest container to dump water on the adjacent chicken houses, while Dan started shoveling dirt to smother the spread of the fire. Miraculously, we were able to keep the fire from spreading to the other two little wooden chicken coops and the trees overhead. 

Turns out she had just moved 30 new chicks from the house into the coop. The extension cord for the heat lamp was apparently faulty and started the fire. The cord itself was burned about halfway to the house. The adult chickens survived because they were out in the yard, but all the chicks were lost. My neighbor was devastated. All I could do was give her a big hug. We don't plan for bad things to happen, but they do anyway, and we always feel responsible. Unfortunately, bad things happening are a fact of life.

As you can imagine, I was extremely careful to check our heat lamp and extension cord when I set up for our new chicks. They're about a week old now, so they'll stay in the house until they outgrow their tote. Then we'll set them up in a brooder box in the chicken coop. We can anticipate them starting to lay in September. In the meantime, I'll have to adjust our diet to what two hens can produce. 

Chicken News © May 2021 by Leigh

at http://www.5acresandadream.com

The Rest of the Garden

For the record, here's the rest of my garden in April. I've already shown you my tomatoes, lettuce, and strawberries, so there isn't much left to see. Most of the action has been planting seeds that have yet to sprout. 

I've started to harvest the garlic.

I had a bunch of pantry potatoes start sprouting, so
I planted them in my potato tubs. First ones are up.

Also planted a new-to-me potato variety - Zolushka.

These are said to be one of the rare varieties that will
grow from seed. Seemed like something worth trying.

I don't have many asparagus plants, so each shoot is a treat!

We usually eat them raw or like this, in scrambled eggs.

The favas are blooming beautifully. These are "Sweet
Lorane," a variety said to have edible inner pods.

Multiplier onions and another winter survivor - celery. I sprouted
and planted about 8 celery ends last fall, but only one made it.

As I plant and transplant, I do some weeding. Some are left to decompose in the bed, others are left because they are tasty!

Lambs quarter (in the measuring cup) is one of my favorite wild greens.

Here, sauteed with collards and onions from the garden, plus
grated carrot. Unfortunately, no garden carrots this spring.

Dandelions are another favorite. Usually for salads, but also for...

... creamed dandelion soup. 

Another spring chore is the annual tidying up of my herb beds. Once a year I get the bermuda and other grasses removed. The beds are re-mulched, and then it's time to get pictures!

Echinacea and lambs ear. Spearmint in the background.
I planted jing okra in this bed too, because it's so pretty.

Violets, chicory, yarrow, butterfly weed, and
blueberry bushes. Keyhole garden, upper left.

Bee balm and oregano. Can you spot the olla lid?

Thyme, spearmint, and a (hopefully) heat tolerant
rhubarb. Another olla is hidden in the thyme leaves.

Yarrow and blueberry bush flowering.

Here's my peppermint, in it's own container and doing well.

Still waiting to see how my tomatoes survived their late frost. Some look pretty good and a few look like goners. I filled in the gaps in the row with more seeds of the same tomato varieties, and filled in the rest of the bed with marigold, sweet basil, and Swiss chard seed.

So, that's it for April. I can't tell you how many times I refer back to these posts - always a good reference. Do you keep a garden journal? What's your best method of keeping track of your garden from year to year?

The Rest of the Garden © April 2021

by Leigh at http://www.5acresandadream.com