The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: PipKelpy on February 03, 2020, 03:53:36 pm
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Mild weather, plan of cattle being in out the window, cattle out for winter!
Due to my bad foot, I can't get to cratches to feed hay (pot holes in field due to cattle prancing etc! And any uneven ground brings tears to eyes. Have even had to forego my safety wellies due to their weight!) So, the lumps who are out are getting bags of hay dumped unceremoniously over some girders!
As most livestock owners are aware, even the nicest animal can be picky!!
So, they eat my thistle free hay, crap and tread on rest of it.
Which brings me to my question. My greenhouse "coffins" (wooden beds i had made to go all round the sides) need redoing. Can I use this hay? It would only go on the muck pile anyway, why not use it for the greenhouse?
I can gaurantee there is no thistles, weeds etc in it as my haybales are 4ft round and I strip them daily and handle them. I'm not screaming yet with spikes in my hands.I
Originally the beds were built up with wool daggings and bought in compost but all of that has gone now. Also, this hay is getting higher which means if I don't start to shift it now it's going to be much higher in another months time!
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Your hay may not contain thistles but it will be full of seeds which will germinate on your beds and create a lot of weeds.
So, be prepared for regular hoeing, which is quite easy in an environment that is quite dry.
The drier environment will also reduce the natural composting of the hay which could be a problem- if you can put it in wet and cover with something this might help.
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We worked a no-dig system on our veg plot and every spring we would heavily mulch the bed with leftover silage, stopped that a few years later due to the massive amount of grass seeding itself. If we have any hay leftover from the goats it goes onto the midden to rot down. Now we only put used straw bedding directly onto the soil.
Its definitely doable but we found it caused more work in the long run. Could it just be left in a heap somewhere away from the soil to rot down perhaps?