Firing Up the Lawnmowers

It is springtime in South Louisiana!  Everything except for the pecan trees are putting on leaves.  Winter grass is growing in the yard, along with white dutch clover, and all sorts of weeds.  Except, we really don't consider them weeds.  The cows don't at least.  Before I crank up our gas-powered lawn mower, I put our "grass powered lawn mowers in the yard!  I have a Gallagher solar fence charger, some poly wire on a reel and some temporary step-in posts.  I'll make several paddocks in our yard and cycle the cows through.  They are so happy!  You ought to see them go.  Heads down, munching grass.

You can hardly see the strand of electrified fencing, but it is there, and they respect it.  Neighbors have stopped to tell us that the cows were out.  Others have given us compliments on our lawn mowers.

They are pretty efficient at their jobs.  By the time they are finished, they've snipped the grass down to the ground.  Then I'll make another paddock adjacent to this one and move them a little farther until they've eaten all the grass in the yard.

Once done, this is all that remains, only live oak leaves litter the ground.  But wait, that will not be wasted.  It definitely won't be bagged up and thrown away.  No sir.

When I move the cows to the next paddock, then I will mow the section of land that the cows were just on and rake up the finely chopped leaves and grass.  I have many uses for this.  Just below you can see where I've mulched all around the potato plants with the chopped leaves.  As the potatoes grow, I'll work in more mulch.  This organic matter will increase fertility, make a great environment for earthworms, and eventually turn into soil.

Everything works together: grass, leaves, cows, and the people living on the land.  It is a beautiful system.