Farm Dreams

Homesteading, Organic Gardening, How to Farm, Preparedness, Self-Reliance

Managing Enormous Lawn Disease

The Aspiring Farmer Blog

I don’t know why, but I had some perception in my head that farmers didn’t really do much yard work and that it was all about farming. Yards didn’t really exist. For some farmers that may be the case. In the future, I hope that’s the case for me. But right now some form of yard work takes up at least a few hours of my time each week.

The major culprit is mowing the lawn. The people that lived here before us loved their lawn and would spend 3 hours every two or three weeks on a huge riding lawn mower cutting the grass. I don’t know how many acres the “lawn” comprised, but it was at least 4 or 5 by my estimate. That seems to be the norm around here. HUGE lawns, all getting cut, all the time. Gotta get a “zero turn”. Typically these manicured lawns lie right next to a completely desolate pasture. I always wonder when I’m driving by if the cows are really pissed off that this guy is just cutting all the beautiful grass right next to their pasture and all they have is a bunch of dirt and buttercup to chew on.

So what the heck am I gonna do with this huge lawn? That’s the question I asked myself once we got settled and a couple feet of grass grew before I could even say the words “riding lawn mower”. Our neighbor kept saying, “You know I have a bush hog and a tractor you can borrow”. If he only knew that I’ve never driven a tractor I don’t think he’d be so bold.

But I can do it without the bush hog. I think. So far I have three answers for this beast of a “lawn”.

The first was to fence off half of it in the permanent pasture. The previous owners kept it separate in order to have a huge lawn. We wanted to use that land for goat and cow pasture. So half of it went away right off the bat. We couldn’t include the rest of the lawn in the perimeter fencing because of the way our land is laid out, but at least we eradicated half of it.

Another chunk of the lawn problem could be resolved by saving it to cut for hay. We could get in there with the tractor and make a few tight turns and get some bales off it. I think in total this spring it amounted to 7 or 8 bales. Nothing to write home about, but better than mowing it all down and composting it.

Those two approaches took care of about 80% of the problem, but there were still some nagging areas around the house that couldn’t be stockpiled for hay and would need to be kept low. Particularly around the highly trafficked areas we need relatively short grass in order to deter snakes and allow us to see snakes. Snakes in the South are just a reality of farming and our area is known to have quite a few of the venomous types. So we keep the grass short around the house. BUT I still loathe the idea of mowing the lawn when perfectly productive grass could be packing on the pounds of grassfed beef.

Which brings me to the next step. Grazing the cows in the front and back yards. I’ve yet to round up the cows for a day on the front lawn, but I’m itching to try it. Sweetbreads is none too happy about the prospect of slipping on a cow pie, but I’m hoping the chickens and guineas will scratch through them in short order..

I’m still trying to figure out how to get cows in and out of the pasture without winding up with a giant highland cow on the loose. How terrifying would that be for our neighbors? Imagine Janis walking up and peeking into your living room! I’d need a change of pants real quick.

So we’ll be giving that a shot once I can effectively move the cows with risking a cow escape. Until then the grass clippings are going to the pigs.

Any other good ideas for avoiding lawn maintenance? What do you do?

Read More at LittleSeedFarm.com
Join the Little Seed Facebook Family

Tags: Cows Grazing Front Yard, Lawns, Little Seed Farm, Scrapple., Yard Work

0 members like this

Comment by MyBackAchers Farm on June 11, 2012 at 4:35pm: Try some NoMowGrass - its one of the best things we did besides extend the pastures out to the wooded areas. We planted it closest to the house and we plant some every year in a spot we want to reduce our work-load.

I can't imagine a cow in close to my house.

You could also add a fence and sheep but I prefer not to have them so close to the house because flies can be overwhelming. But there again, we think the NoMowGrass was one of the best things we do. We also use it in areas we want to naturalize in the woods where the hubby has cut a clearing for hanging out and enjoying the wildlife. Its so peaceful there!

Another annoyance with those massive lawns is that people dump chemicals on them like madmen. With a NoMowGrass lawn - you can stop using thos nasty chemicals and start healing the soil/ It also reduces the amount of watering you need to do because you don't sut it often - it holds in water longer.

We live up north and love the soft short meadow'y look on our farm so you would need to ask them about your location's ability to grow a low maintenance lawn.

Comment by Jeannie Boysen on June 11, 2012 at 5:34pm: I've battled with this same problem, though only in my head. ;) My homestead is not quite ready to move into yet, and then when I do, it will be a big, blank slate. And all of that slate ....is grass. So I've been thinking for more than a year now, how to have a low maintenance lawn right around the house.

I did, at one point, think of the "No Mow" grass that was mentioned above. And for awhile, I was convinced that would be the way I'd do it. I think that is a really good idea if you're really set on grass. I am not that crazy about a lawn whether I have to mow it or not. So my thoughts evolved.

I started thinking about permaculture. I'm too new to that topic to explain much about it, but from what I do know, it seems to me that permaculture is a pretty low maintenance thing. It's about growing food in a way that mimics nature, rather than the traditional rows of crops. And I know you're not talking about growing food here, but like you, I was thinking of a way to take care of the space immediately around my house. "Zone 1" in permaculture language is apparently, just that.

So for me, this thinking was a way to virtually eliminate the lawn, and yet, create an edible landscape...with hardly any maintenance, and certainly no chemicals. I was skeptical at first. But when I did some research, I determined this might be the way I go when my house is finished.

Just my take on it. Maybe someone else can explain it better. I got started with:

www.permies.com ...

and various videos from YouTube. Try looking up Sepp Holzer, Geoff Lawton, Bill Mollison, and Paul Wheaton.

Comment by Little Seed Farm on June 11, 2012 at 11:07pm: Definitely like the permaculture idea. In fact, we planted our garden beds just outside the house and we have herb gardens all around the house. The main problem is that it's just such a big area and there's various outbuildings scattered around.

MyBackAchers commented about not having cows around the house, which we won't, they'll be grazing on the periphery of the smaller sized "lawn". There's areas all around the house that they can't have access to for various reasons (i.e. the garden), so the grass in those areas needs to be mowed or weed-whacked.

No mow grass is an interesting idea, I'd never heard of it. I'm pretty sure we'll stick with what we got and figure out a way to use it all. The grass clippings can be raked and go to the pigs now, or be used for nest-box bedding. Would be nice to not worry about it though.

Thanks for all the suggestions

Comment by J Green on June 13, 2012 at 10:31am: I got Katahdin/St. Croix hair sheep! Easy to contain, keep the lawn manicured like an English estate, lovely personalities, parasite resistant and naturally hardy. No shearing~lovely! No huge cow piles to walk amongst~even lovelier!

Their small feet won't break down grass crowns, they require little water compared to cattle and they are much smarter than dealing with cows. They are like having woolly dogs that keep the grass mowed and don't bark all the time.

I love, love, love my hair sheep!

Comment by Little Seed Farm on June 13, 2012 at 10:35am: You know, I hadn't even considered sheep and I don't know why. Thanks for sharing!

Comment by J Green on June 13, 2012 at 5:51pm

Comment by Little Seed Farm on June 13, 2012 at 6:03pm: Very nice. Do you keep a ram or use AI, or do you not breed them? Primary thing that would worry me about having them around the house is that they'd be outside of the perimeter fence and thus not protected by the LGDs.

Comment by J Green on June 13, 2012 at 8:41pm: They make lovely electric netting fence that is easily moved and quite portable...excellent for sheep containment and very affordable. Much cheaper than maintenance and gas for a riding mower!

I borrowed a ram from my original farm of purchase....the sale of the lambs pays for the price of original purchase of the sheep and will also pay for their hay needs each year.

Hair sheep can be bred 3 times in two years and are prone to twinning, so the lamb crop can be considerable on just a few ewes. They also come in heat several times a year as opposed to annually like woolly breeds. Mine seemed to heat once a month.