Re: Strawberry (Rose) Clover Performance (fwd)

[donahuer@ols.net (Randy )]

>On Mon, 9 Oct 2000 13:48:42 -0400 (EDT), "Lawrence F. London, Jr."
><london@metalab.unc.edu> wrote:
>
>>---------- Forwarded message ----------
>>Date: Sat, 7 Oct 2000 17:40:14 -0400 (EDT)
>>From: Randy <donahuer@ols.net>
>>Subject: Rose Clover Performance
>
>>This will hopefully allow the cattle to be pulled out of each paddock just
>>as the length of forage becomes ideal for pasturing poultry. The broadleaf
>>clovers will be preferred by the hens. Another of advantage of these
>>mixtures underneath a low density orchard is that the clovers can regenerate
>>flowers during a timed rest period, providing an alternative source of bee
>>forage for the landowners hives. A surplus of honey generated by the clovers
>>could offset the cost of keeping hives to pollinate the owner's fruit trees.
>>An additional season long source of honey is needed to compensate for the
>>short early period that most fruit trees bloom.
>
>Would the chicken manure residue within the clover present any disease
>pathogen problem for honey production? If there was little/no rainfall
>between the removal of poultry from the pasture and the scheduled
>pollen gathering by the bees (given that there may be enough moisture
>to make the clover flower but not enough to make the manure compost
>adequately to be relatively disease-free? This could be a problem in
>NC with unpredictable weather and variations in soil
>type/fertility/tilth/permeability.
>
>One solution would be to grow tall sweet white and yellow clover; the
>bees use this plant's flowers (as do many other pollinators) and it is
>not too invasive and could coexist with planting of many other
>perennial forage crops, including many annuals (rye grain).
>
>Lawrence
>
>
>Lawrence F. London, Jr. 
>lflondon@mindspring.com    
>london@metalab.unc.edu
>http://www.ibiblio.org/london
>
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        How often would I have to seed those clovers? I have read that they
are biennials. How closely can they be grazed, and how how closely do they
need to be grazed to return them to vegetative growth within a twenty day
resting period? My literature says that they usually grow from 3 to 6 feet,
and can get as tall as 10 feet. . .
        Do you think that there would be a test I could use for fecal matter
in the honey?Would pasteurization solve this problem? I was going to use a
rotational system with around twenty-four single acre paddocks. The cattle
would be moved every one to two days, depending on the height of the
stubble, and the time of the year. The chickens will move in around three
days after the cattle, enough time for pupae and laying adult insects to be
active in their manure. The chickens(about 50) will spend as much time as it
takes to break and spread the manure, and reduce the pasture under the
orchard to a disaster area. This should take about as much time as it takes
the cattle to graze down, about one to two days. This leaves the chickens in
the individual area for about one to two days out of twenty to fourty.
Hopefully the density of manure spread over the paddock will not be enough
to come into contact with clover blossoms or bees nearing the end of that
three week period. The constant movement of the chickens will tend to cut
down on disease within themselves and in the pasture. In NC we usually have
a cloudburst at least every three weeks or so. An expensive solution would
be a schedule of portable overhead irrigation on individual plots in the
event of a drought. I would frown on this because it would encourage scab.
Two sets of solutions, either reduce the number of cows/ chickens, or
increase the number or size of existing paddocks. The chickens will be kept
in the most sanitary pen possible, and always given regular medications to
help prevent coccidiosis. Drug use on the hens will prevent me from selling
their eggs as organic, but the moist climate of North Carolina, and the
health risks, prevent me from doing otherwise.  
        Bees will not actually be set in or adjacent to a blossoming field.
They will be located near the center of a series of about 24 hexagonal pens.
Their own apiary will probably be about six acres in the middle of the grid.
This is to prevent oppurtunist chickens from glutting themselves on a hive,
or to prevent cows/chickens from being seen as vandals and stung by bees.
The bees will have to find the honey on their own, but since it will never
be more than three hexagonal acres(less than half a mile) away, they won't
suffer considerably. On their "hometurf"(no pun intended), a mixed
grass/legume hay will be grown for winter stockpiling. I have considered
good bee forages, such as alsike clover, birdfoot trefoil, and red clover. I
don't want to discourage the bees by providing too good a source so near
them, though. Drought-resistant cultivars of orchardgrass, timothy, or a
brome would be used to balance out the legumes.   
         Another concern I have about my system is the nutrient ccontent of
my forage and hay. If I am to let the legumes in either area bloom and begin
to develop seed heads, the nutrient content may depreciate steadily. On the
flipside is harvesting pre-bloom and destroying the bees supply of nectar
and pollen. A compromise might be to catch the hay just as it goes to seed,
and give adequate supplemental feed based on the analysis for that crop when
it is in bloom. Regardless, the whole area would have optimum levels of
phosphorous and boron for bloom formation and nectar secretion before the
first fruit tree or forage seed would be planted, or it would be brought up
to par with ammendments.             A consoling thought is that the cattle
would not have to function at industrial efficiency. The type of cattle
used, dexters, could be sold to reduce costs. These miniature cattle, backed
by a solid pedigree, are fetching good prices in this area and across the
U.S. The dexters were chosen to replace the sheep which are usually used in
a grazing system with poultry. They are able to graze closer(than large
breeds of cattle) with less stress from doing so. They are easier to handle,
and have decent milk yields. The only problem with milking is hauling around
a portable milking parlour. Grazing in hexagonal pens will help to reduce
the amount of ungrazed areas and uneven manure distribution. Every three
pens will share a water basin at their vertex. 
         What do you think about using some of the dexters as oxen to
harvest the hay? This would cut down on petroleum use, and further the
self-suffiency of the farmlet. 
         Do you find these statements/questions plausible/worthwhile?
                                      
                                                    -Donahue@ols.net