How to best convert a pasture for cultivation

[kacook3]

I need to convert approx 1/2 acre of pasture grass for cultivation. What are the best ways to go about this without using herbicides (I am devloping an organic market garden)? The pasture grass does include bermuda. It has been suggested that I mow it, cut it up with a disc, and then go back later and till it up. Good idea...any other ideas...burn the grass?

Thanks...have had great success with tbn rec's.

 

[cowboydoc]

You can do this but you are going to have continual problems with grass. Bermuda is very hardy and even after tilling it will come back. If there's no way to use herbicides you are going to need to break the root system. Plowing the soil will do this the best. Then come back and disc it and then harrow and you should have a nice seedbed. You will probably have alot of weeding to do the first few years.

If you have cattle or horses you could also fence it off and let them eat it down to nothing. That will also help to kill it and they will get it down farther than you could with mowing.

 

[Bob_Skurka]

In addition to everything cowboydoc said, you can also use plastic sheeting to help you. I grow my veggies organically and weeds are always an issue. You're looking to convert a 1/2 acre so this is going to be hard to do. But you can try to scale up some of the organic gardening tricks or do some of it this way. . . AFTER doing what doc said cover as much area as you can with something that blocks out the light. For a small garden, several layers of newspaper do a great job when topped with compost. For a pasture you'd have a hard time with the newspaper trick. However, you can find black plastic in large rolls, often up to 10' wide and several hundred feet long and run that over the field. Use some dirt to hold it down. Cover what you can as soon as you don't have any snow (I usually do this in the fall after tilling the bed for the final time). The black plastic heats the soil which causes weed seeds to germinate prematurely and then die from lack of sunlight. It also helps with controlling grasses and is pretty effective. Clear plastic can also be used but black is more effective, clear seems to allow the weeds to grow to a point, but they overheat. I'm not sure that you'd want to do the whole 1/2 acre (largely because of the co$t to cover that much ground with plastic), but you may want to try it on part of the new garden area.

 

[LarryD]

Amen to the livestock method. Throw up some t-posts and tape. Make a sacrifice area and you will be looking at bare dirt in a few months. There will probably be some volunteer growth for a while but the bulk of the old grass will be gone.

 

[Bird]

Your profile doesn't say what part of the world you're in. I agree with the other guys that those may be the "best" or "better" ways of doing it, but when I fenced off part of the pasture for a vegetable garden in Central Texas, I had the tractor, tiller, and time, so I just simply tilled it repeatedly! As soon as it got dry enough after each rain, I ran over it again with the tiller. The first year I did have quite a bit of the bermuda come back in the garden, but with repeatedly tilling, no problem after that first year.

 

[ThistleKop]

Best I can do is send you a sympathy card if you are going to TRY to get rid of bermuda grass without herbicides. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

TK

 

[kacook3]

Thanks cowboydoc and others. I will try your recommendations. By the way, what type of plow would work best...?all purpose plow? I want to keep most of my topsoil on top and not do too much soil mixing with the subsoil.

Thanks again....
K. Cook
Clermont, GA

 

[Holzster]

If you want to keep it "Organic" and kill the grass - the above posts will work. If youhave a few problems areas after that use Vinager not the stuff from the grocery store but from a landscape supply store. this stuff is strong!! BUT - DO NOT USE IT FOR COOKING.

 

[johan3400]

You could cut the bermuda sod off and haul it to another location. As the others have said, bermuda is tough and will keep coming back. Cut the sod away plow it and keep cultivating it as others have said. Good luck! I am doing the same thing with bluegrass sod. It will be a challenge.

 

[kensfarm]

There's an interesting article(part 1 of 3) on cultivation at this site.. NewFarm.. lots of info about organic farming methods.

http://www.newfarm.org