[GreenBackJack]

Thanks Super Nova! I'm going to check them out. Ooh, and it looks like I've still got plenty of time to plant...some idiot called for possible snow next weekend! so...tired...of...this.

 

[WildAcreFarms]

You might check with your county extension agent for what grows best in your area. I haven't called on them, but I have visited with some folks OSU (that's OKLAHOMA's OSU) and plan on using a mixture of native grasses and bermuda grass that will be good on my sandy clay soil and our hot, dry summers. I'm too lazy to plant anything that will require more than routine mowing.

My thinking is some big and little bluestem, buffalo grass and indian grasses. Haven't decided on what variety of bermuda, yet.

Right now we have a pasture full of winter rye. It's the first green I've seen back there in 10 years. It had all grown up in trash trees and brush. Been working to clear it out, but it's been slow going. At least now I can see green, and the horses are loving it, and you can see them pout at the gate when we bring them back into the lot after letting them graze for a couple of hours...

I have some big blue stem and my horses LOVE IT! it grows so luscious it just LOOKs awesome. I've heard some people call it Ice Cream grass and with good reason. your horses will love it. you can plant a small amt and it spreads about double every year (or it has at my place).

 

[WildAcreFarms]

Have to aerate the soil, it's hard pan, when you dig a post hole here, you better have some strength, it's like cement.

Ah I see..
So is it a heavy dry clay thats turns into cement when it's dry? If that's the case i think there is something that you can put out that helps to break that up chemically. sounds like anything to incorporate some organic matter into the soil would help too.

We have Seriously Acidic soil down here that has heavy clay about a foot to a ft and a half down but fortunately unless it gets really dry it's easy to dig into. we had a really bad drought last summer and you couldn't pound in a t post to save your LIFE..... So i feel ya there LOL

 

[Susan Crumrine]

We planted this field 4 years ago.
It is orchard grass and has a little clover in one corner....
I have pictures. LOL
Right now they are allowed out for 2 hours..

 

[dee]

Went walking in the pasture last weekend - wanted to see how things were progressing. My pasture may not look like much to you, but last summer, it was nothing but bare dirt - maybe a few straggly weeds, and trees and brush. Plus, the pond was all but dry.

Now we have happy horses:


Water in the pond (though it's still not nearly full):


Oh, and one seriously ticked off water moccasin!



We still have a very long way to go - this is just winter rye and will kill out soon, but it's so lovely to see that a lot of hard work (you can still see that we need to burn some brush piles) and a little money (less than $300 for seed and fertilizer) can really make a difference!

(Oh, and our five horses STILL haven't been able to make a dent in the grass!)

 

[dee]

Here's a better pic of the pond:


Last summer, you couldn't walk through this area it was so thick with trees and brush:

 

[GreenBackJack]

@ Wildacrefarms the "icecream grass" sounds great! Nice that it spreads out so well and the horses love it. The closest I got to that was the other day when they got into the garden and started sampling the ornamental blue fescue!

@ Susan, terrific picture! Almost makes me want to take up grazing myself. LOL

@ Dee, love your pictures! What a nice place for your horses. I bet it is fantastic when the trees leaf out. I'm feeling a little pond envy.

 

[Susan Crumrine]

Greenback: thanks we are kind of proud of it...just got it finished Monday.

 

[dee]

Thanks, Jack. I have to brag on our pond - it's really huge, and with one other exception, the only one in our area that didn't go dry in the drought. (The other one wound up a mud waller with tons of dead fish.) We didn't lose any fish, which amazes me, but even when it was at it's lowest, the water in our pond was several feet deep - the dam is across a ravine.

The bad thing, though, is that pretty much every water moccasin in the area is now at our place. We really have to watch where we walk - even in the yard!

 

[Susan Crumrine]

Dee, put a pot belly pig in the pasture!
When I lived in Florida, I had one in my yard and she killed poisonous snakes, *(rattlesnakes and coral snakes)....

 

[dee]

We have way too many feral hogs in our area - maybe they will reduce the snake population? One of our ex-neighbors though he could put field fencing around his property and turn hogs loose on it...so he could hunt them when he wanted to. That fence didn't even slow the hogs down, and now they are all over the place. I don't think a pot bellied pig would stand much of a chance against the feral hogs, or I might consider it.

Hopefully, the snakes will dispurse now that the smaller ponds around us are full again...