Can I turn my lawn into hay with out farm equipment?

[MrSalvage]

I have 1 1/3 acre of land that is all grass. Can I reseed this grass with something more beneficial by hand? Will the new cover crop take over all the grass?

I wonder about this because i see all the wild flowers in my state in the medium strips and along the side of the road. It's very pretty and they certainly don't kill off the grass before they sow the wild flowers.

So i was wondering if i could do the same with a cover crop...

[Worth1]

No you have to have an air conditioned tractor with the very latest in equipment.
This new hay seed simply will not grow using old technology.

[MrSalvage]

Your killing man! lol Stupid question huh? So your saying just go throw Alfalfa seed out on my lawn and it will take over the grass? No till no nothing just spread it out...

---

Side note: I started a laborer job one summer as a young man. We were working around a new house. The backhoe operator must have been smoking some funny stuff. He filled in around half of the house's foundation before it was water proofed.

The boss came up to me and handed me a shovel and told me to dig out were the op messed up. I asked that man where the keys were...

He said what? I said yea i don't see no keys to that shovel. I thru the shovel down and walked off the job.

So my point is I don't have any large equipment but I guess i could buy a sickle. I just wish they came with keys!

[Worth1]

No it wasn't a stupid question I just had to put that out there because I have seen so may people think this way.
I dont know a thing about alfalfa other than it can bloat cows and kill them.

You can get a scythe or a sickle mower.
A good sharp scythe is a thing to behold.
I posted this video some years ago here.
Every thing these folks do is with a scythe and hay fork.


Worth
https://youtu.be/fIVAlV8YVF0

[MrSalvage]

Originally Posted by Worth1

I don't know a thing about alfalfa.

Worth

That's a cool video...

Yea it doesn't half to be Alfalfa.

I guess I would need some sort of pasture perennial? Something with more value than regular grass.

[Worth1]

Notice the legs on the girl and how strong they are.
This is the kind of hard work my girlfriend did logging with her father.

In the past several years I have noticed legs on younger people turning into toothpicks due to lack of exercise.

They have fatty thighs big rear ends and skinny toothpick calves.
Male and female both.

Worth

[MrSalvage]

So what kind of seed would overtake the lawn?
I am all for this man, i am tired of mowing every week.

[ChiliPeppa]

your extension agent can probably tell you which will grow best.

[Worth1]

I'm trying to think about it.
I have no idea what you have growing now.
It might not be possible to choke it out without plowing and growing wheat.

Worth

[MrSalvage]

Of course this is a long term thing.

What about the wild flower mix? Would that be more beneficial than the cheap sack of grass seed throw down here 30 years ago?

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

So what kind of seed would overtake the lawn?
I am all for this man, i am tired of mowing every week.

once it warms up, Bermuda is king.

[Worth1]

The problem is I dont know what was put down.
If it was Bermuda grass you are doomed.
The flowers and so on will be fine abut they die back after blooming.
Any winter stuff will die back in the summer and the Bermuda will take over again.
A good option would be a nanny milk or hair goat and a billy goat.
Stake them out during the day and put them up at night.

Worth

[MrSalvage]

So I would be better off turning it into goat manure? hum... Nice

Whats about this?

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?p=549814

Mow it low and broadcast it out a few times...

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MrSalvage

So I would be better off turning it into goat manure? hum... Nice

Whats about this?

http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?p=549814

Mow it low and broadcast it out a few times...

It helps with weed weeds but not Bermuda grass.
But the goats would love it.
Have you ever had and or milked a goat.
Nothing and I mean nothing beats homemade goat cottage cheese.
It is very easy and they make wonderful pets.
I have had as many as 50 or so follow me everywhere like dogs.
The little ones would come up behind you and suck your fingers.

Worth

[PureHarvest]

You need to be able to get seeds into the soil. This will require killing your lawn with a spray treatment or mechanically tilling it up with machinery.
Once you have done either of the above you would seed in this fall or early spring.

Ernst seeds has mixes by region and soil type.
They take a good 2 years from seeding to really look like something.
WF seed will run you about 400-500 dollars per acre for a 10 or so species mix.
You could have them custom mix you something with less species to get the cost down, but you will have less of a bloom window over the course of the season.
To cut down on cost, you could reduce the area you plant to WF seeds and do a border around your property with something cheaper like buckwheat, clover, alfalfa, or sudex, and mow that a couple times a year and collect it for composting/mulch. Or leave your existing grass around the border.

Here is the one I used (It was slightly adjusted based on them not having a couple things and the cost was 45 per lb):
http://www.ernstseed.com/seed-mix/?category-id=283


They have a good section about establishing and maintaining a sowing of Wfs. It would tell you that you will get as poor stand if your do not remove existing cover (i would too).

Most likely, you just didn't see the highway crew spray or till the strips before planting.
They probably also hydro-sprayed the seed or used a drill to install.