Time To Start Mowing the Yard Again

The birds are chirping.  Flowers are blooming.  Pollen is in the air.  The live oak trees are shedding their leaves and quickly replacing with new growth.  Spring has arrived.  I would say that grass is growing, but it is not really grass.  Not yet.  First weeds grow in the yard.  A weed in this case is anything but St. Augustine grass.  Lots of people buy Weed and Feed which will kill the weeds in your yard while providing food for your real grass.  Those weeds, however, have a purpose.  The cows will absolutely devour them.

Before I mow, I'll let the cows mow the grass.  We do this each and every year like clockwork.  I have a Gallagher Solar Fence charger and a reel full of wire rope.  It carries a charge and has gained the respect of the cows.  I simply set it up in the yard with step in posts and bring the cows from the pasture and into the yard.  They look forward to this each year, believe it or not.

Harnessing the Power of the Sun

Clarabelle has found a tall patch of weeds growing near the air conditioning units.  She'll mow that all down in short order.  You can see the strand of electric fencing to the right of her head.  The cows, while certainly respecting the "pop" they get if they touch the electric fence, have figured out just how far they can go without getting popped.  You'll see them craning their necks way under the strand of fencing to get to some fresh grass.  Pay particular attention to the grass in the photo below as this is the "before" shot.

Here you can see Luna running to a patch of White Dutch Clover.  That is the cows' favorite.  They'll eat all of that first and then eat the other stuff.  White Dutch Clover is like Alaskan King Crab Legs at a buffet line.

This, my friends, is the "after" shot.  The cows have really cleaned up the yard!  They mowed down the tall grass.

I took this picture so you can see the difference between where the cows ate versus where I had the yard cordoned off by the electric fence.  If you look at the bottom left of the picture and run a diagonal line to the top right, you can trace out where the cows grazed.  I had to block them from the fruit trees as I've learned from previous years that they'll eat the leaves and break the branches.

I'd like to be able to tell you that putting the cows in the yard to mow the grass was positive since they produce no emissions.  That, however, would be a lie!

Foul emissions - You must be careful in the back yard when walking.  It is like a mine field.

Once the backyard was done, I moved the fencing to the front yard and then moved the cows to the front to mow.  They especially like eating right near the road in the front as that is where most of the clover grows.

I watched them eat while sitting on the front porch.  As cars would pass, they would slow down and stare, at first not seeing the strand of electric fencing.  They would think the cows were out!  Once I have let the cows cycle through the back yard, the front yard and the side yard, I get on my mechanical mower to cut down the grass the cows didn't eat and to mulch up the leaves that have fallen. 

Our Lawnmowers

We put our little John Deere lawn tractor in the garage back in late October after we mowed the last of the summer grass and leaves.  I'll crank it up every once in a while to make sure it still starts for when we need it, but we try to delay using the John Deere to mow until we absolutely have to.  It is officially Spring right now but the nights are still pretty cool, so the grass hasn't started growing vigorously yet.  I'll hear the neighbors firing up their lawnmowers to mow the white dutch clover that fills their yards.


White Dutch Clover in the yard

We fire up our mowers as well, but we use a different type lawn mower to trim our clover - Rosie and Daisy.  Unlike my boys, they show excitement about being asked to mow.  They also don't need to be filled with fuel.  Aside from the cow patties that they leave scattered on the front lawn which some people find unappealing, I can't really think of any downside to letting the cows do the mowing for me.  I'm sure if we lived in the suburbs, the Home owner's Association would likely frown upon this lowbrow practice.

Rosie & Daisy chowing down in the yard

So oblivious to deed restrictions, Rosie and Daisy set out to mow a section of our yard.  They don't have harmful emissions that harm the environment, unless of course you count...  Well, you know.


The Jersey Zero Turn Radius Lawn Mowers at work

They run excitedly from one clover patch to the next, noses to the ground, skillfully pulling out each piece of clover and devouring it. 

Clover for Daisy Lou

Cows are not emotional creatures.  You will never see them smile.  They are very even keeled and the only time you really see them show enthusiasm is on that first cool, crisp day of the fall.   They'll kick up their heels and run around.  Looking down at this platter of clover, I'll bet she's smiling on the inside in her own cow kind of way. 

Do cows smile?

She's nose deep in the clover now, but she has that twinkle in her eye to let you know that she's happy.  

Daisy's favorite meal - white dutch clover

It's kind of rude to stand over someone while they're eating, so I'll move on down the road.  Enjoy your luncheon, Miss Daisy.

Finally, here's how we keep our lawnmowers from mowing our neighbor's property or getting out on the road.  I have some temporary electric wire fencing on a reel that I unroll and affix it to some step-in fiberglass posts.  To be honest, I don't even hook it up to the charger.  The cows have been shocked before, so they respect the fence and don't go near it.  We don't leave the house while the girls are mowing, though.  We keep a close eye on them.  Once we see them sit down, they're done and we walk out and lead them back to the pasture. 

Cows inside the temporary fencing mowing down the clover

Tomorrow, I'll simply pull up the temporary fence and move it to another part of the yard where there's more clover.  Clover provides the girls with lots of protein, digestible nutrients and calcium, phosphorus and magnesium.  This, in turn, enables them to produce the most delicious, nutritious, milk on God's green earth. 

Daisy and Rosie - Mowin' the grass & puttin' milk in the glass.  Thanks girls!