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.

Redbuds and Spuds

In the side yard just to the west of the house is a tree that up to last week, looked barren and dead.  It's a redbud tree.  It is another tree that we got for free from the Arbor Day Foundation shortly after we moved into our house.  With this tree, we were able to dig it up and transplant it in the side yard in the perfect spot.  There is a sliver of openness between the pecan trees and the live oak trees.  The redbud is able to get some sunshine that the live oak and the pecan tree benevolently shares.  As a result, the redbud has flourished and grown.  

The following two photos illustrate the reason for the name of the tree.  In springtime, even though the tree has no leaves, no green growth, and no signs of life at all, the tree erupts with hundreds or thousands of tiny flowers that line the branches - a beautiful announcement of spring.  Ain't it pretty?

Here is an up-close photo.  The tiny flowers have no discernable fragrance, but they are a feast for the eyes, for sure.  In a few short weeks, the buds/blooms will be gone and big, heart-shaped leaves will adorn the tree.

Just south and west of the redbud tree is a 45 foot double row garden plot that we rotate vegetables into.  We created this bed when we ran out of room in our garden out back.  Now that our 'birds' have flown the nest, we should rethink this and transition this patch back to grass, BUT we've worked so hard to amend organic matter, biochar, compost, chicken litter, and cow manure into, I hate to waste all that good stuff on grass.

The ground in this patch was compacted, hard, poor, and mostly clay when we first turned it over with a shovel.  Now it is easily-worked and fertile.  Last year we had zinnias growing here, along with numerous types of squash.  This spring I planted two double rows of Lasoda Irish potatoes in this bed.  The potatoes are off to a great start.  The plants catapult from the dark earth and up into the sunshine, healthy as ever.

The potatoes are mostly the same size, but a few are taller than others.  Some lag behind, but they'll catch up.

The encouraging thing about the potato crop is that EVERY SINGLE seed potato planted has grown.  There are no gaps to fill.  Pretty soon the plants will shade out and the bed will be nothing but a 45 foot double row of green.  Although the green leaves of the potato plant are nice to look at, the real magic is occurring beneath the soil where tiny potatoes will start to grow.  That one chunk of seed potato will reproduce itself, multiplying into many potatoes from each plant.  They'll be ready to dig in May.  We like to eat the small, new potatoes cooked in butter with fresh green beans.  Mmmm... What a great combination!

One thing I did today is I mowed several sections of the yard.  I closed the outlet from the mower and mulched all the grass, clover, and leaves.  The mower chops them up into small pieces.  Then I raked it all up and nestled it around the potato plants.  The leaf mulch serves several purposes.  First, it crowds out any opportunity for weed growth that might compete with the potatoes.  Next, over the season the leaf mulch deteriorates, becoming a home for earthworms and eventually part of the soil, adding fertility and minerals back into the soil.

Redbuds and spuds in the side yard - a nice treat.  One for the eyes, the other for the stomach.