Improvement of soil/sward

[Bewoulf]

When you see other farmers "muck spreading, or what seems to be more likely these days, is a tractor with a " fertiliser spinner" on the back depositing fertilizer in pellet form, which has been obtained from a petro chemical source. obviously both cost money to apply, and in the case of the petro chemical stuff is very damaging to the environment. The clover is doing all this for free for you by fixing nitrogen into the soil. To quote a book from the time when this was common practice in good grassland management .. Quote : The most important species in permanent pasture is wild white clover, which by fixing nitrogen builds up fertility, increases the nutritive value and carrying capacity of the grazing and indirectly stimulates the grasses; moreover , its creeping ensures a close bottom and thus checks the invasion of weeds it goes on to say that clover initself is to rich and scouring, and it is far better to arrange the seeding and management so that the grass makes the bigger contribution to herbage. ( hence the percentages in the previous post ). Another old book comments thus.. : This is a most valuable plant for pasturage over the whole of Europe, Central Asia and North America and is now introduced into South america... sorry to bore you but yet another older book says..:This genus the most valuable herbage plants adopted in European agriculture, the white, red and yellow clovers.
All this information is easily obtainable, and just goes to show what the agricultural industry has thrown away just to rely on the quick fix.
Hopefully in the not to distant future you can have a chuckle to yoursef when you see the other fossil fuel farmers spending a small fortune for what you get for free. Its yet another lost skill which is well worth reinventing.

[tinamou]

Couldn't agree more, Bewoulf, re clover. Gorse and broom are also nitrogen fixing, which explains why they thrive on thin, stony soils.

Alfalfa/lucerne and lupins are wonderful, but I tried them ( west Wales ) and they did not flourish and disappeared after a few years, I think probably because the soil here is too acidic for them, that was my guess, anyway.

[Corn yr Afr]

Hiya,
taken some photos and will post soon (hopefully). Sward lifter is in today and guess what? The mains water running across two fields, supplying two properties, is only 3 inches below the surface, oh joy....... Didn't discover until he'd done most of the fields, the mains are truly shredded.

digger arriving shortly, pipe bought, just taking a break before we lay it out, about half a mile or so, then we have to find the mains where it enters and leaves the fields, hence the digger. Thank god for friends.

Ain't life grand.

Debs

[Bewoulf]

All the water mains i have laid in the past had a specification requiring they be laid 750mm plus deep, this it to ensure they are not in the frost zone and deep enough not to be easily damaged.. looks like some one has " pulled a fast one there"

[JohnB]

All the water mains i have laid in the past had a specification requiring they be laid 750mm plus deep, this it to ensure they are not in the frost zone and deep enough not to be easily damaged.. looks like some one has " pulled a fast one there"

It's in West Wales. Different rules apply here, and they're aren't written down

[Corn yr Afr]

You are not kidding the rules appear to be different. Found the two mains, Jeans is back on, loads of pipe along hedges etc, still have to bury it, but it works and we shouldn't get frost for a while.

Ours! Its a copper pipe! Now that is different, and of course we had every fitting, 1/2 inch. 3/4, etc, etc, but not copper to plastic! Still no water, so humping water by hand to the animals, and humming 'always look on the bright side of life' in my head.

Wish me luck today, the saga continues....

[Bewoulf]

Go to a local plumb centre , builders merchant or country world, they will have the necessary conections from copper to plastic, just remember what size MDPE you are using, 20mm and 25mm look very similar

[Corn yr Afr]

An update.

Had the land done with a sward lifter, not the ideal choice, but the only one available here.

Couple of weeks on- pleased with the results, so far. Had very heavy rain and for once it didn't puddle. The sward has florished, so much so, I considered my own hayledge this year. However, the ridges left by the machine, precluded this. Contamination risk.

Flora and bugs etc, all doing well.

It has left me with the option of store lambs, which should help with the budget! Yipee.

Debs