First Grass Cutting This Spring

Since we have mostly live oak trees in our yard, our "fall" actually happens in the spring.  I'll explain.  Live oaks lose their leaves in the spring and are quickly filled out with fresh green growth along with pollen tassels.  There is a brief moment when there are so few leaves left on the tree, you can see the limbs within the crown and see through the canopy to the sky.  That is not possible in summer time.

All of those leaves hit the ground.  It past years I would rake all those leaves up, put them in a wagon or drag them on tarps and bring them to the garden.  There I would dig a trench between the rows and bury the leaves.  With the soil amended with plenty of organic matter, earthworms would be attracted and go to work.  Over time the soil quality improves, compaction goes down, and it becomes a more fertile growing medium.

Now that we have more wood chips and mulch than you could shake a stick at, I don't need to do that anymore.  This year I'll simply mow the leaves until they are ground into little pieces that fall between the blades of grass.  I do have to either blow them or rake them into the grass in areas so that I can mow them into the yard.

Lots of leaves

Right before I mow, there's one more thing I do.  The yard, at this time, is filled with white Dutch clover.  It fills the yard, and their white flowers attract a plethora of honey bees.

The white Dutch clover also attracts hungry cows.  Before I mow, I allow the cows to circulate through the yard, eating the clover and winter grasses.  Talk about some happy cows!!

I don't just let them roam, however.  I have a solar power fence charger that charges up a temporary fence that I put up around the yard.  You can see the electric fence against Clarabelle's body in the photo below.

Many passersby always stop to ask if the cows are loose or what kind of cows they are.  I always stop to visit with them.  Sunday afternoon after coffee, we put all three cows in the yard - Rosie, Clarabelle, and Luna.  They accomplished their mission of mowing down the clover and grasses (pre-mowing, I call it.)  I have a small issue I discovered that I would rather you not tell the cows about.  The solar charger isn't charging the wire.  I think the battery is not holding the charge.  For now the cows don't know it.  They have been trained that the wire will shock them.  They remember this... for a while.  After a bit, they'll test it, though.  When it doesn't shock them, they'll walk right through it and then they are loose!  It is like a rodeo to get them back in the pasture.

For now, they respect the fence, but I'll have to get it fixed.  When they moved off of the portion of the yard that they were grazing Sunday afternoon, there was nothing left except the fallen live oak leaves on the lawn.  You go, girls!