Old (REALLY OLD) Hay...what the heck to do with the stuff

[dangerdoc]

Thats what i figure ill do for now. ive got a huge vegie patch that we only use a small part of just now. keeping the weeds down is ****, my wife tills it weekly. this may be a good soluton to 2 problems.

Maybe hay is different where you live but our local hay is a great way to get grass started. I put the hay where I want grass to grow, the hay holds the moisture long enough to sprout the grass seed that is already present in the hay.

 

[Dave5264]

Well, one of the Jobs my wife has this week while im at work is to start forking that mess out of the Barn. We'll see how she does, it may be a slow Go, singe she'll be only able top do one trailer load till i arrive home from work. She' really not comfy reversing a Trailer, so ive set it by the barn door.

 

[studor]

Dave -- is she available to do my barn?. My wife won't go near that old hay

 

[schmism]

buy a pelitizer and make wood stove pellets with it.

YouTube - Pellet Pros Personal Mill Demo

 

[Duffster]

buy a pelitizer and make wood stove pellets with it.

YouTube - Pellet Pros Personal Mill Demo

There is 10 minutes of my life I won't get back.LOL

 

[bota7800]

You might also see if someone with llamas or alpacas wants it. They, the animals that is ;-) , can eat almost anything. The owners don't always know or trust that however.

 

[dangerdoc]

You might also see if someone with llamas or alpacas wants it. They, the animals that is ;-) , can eat almost anything. The owners don't always know or trust that however.

We own llamas, they won't eat old hay.

I've always heard that you want to find the oldest nastiest hay you can find for bufalo in the winter to keep them out of estros until the spring.

 

[GreenLawnFarm]

i put all yard waste into a pile (tree branches, leaves, weeds), then once a week shred it with the rotary cutter and add it to my mulch pile. i get loads of free wood chips from tree companies and mix my compost into the wood chips. wait 6 months, turning the pile every few weeks, and a little water if needed yields great compost mulch. After you get going and have a pile around at work composting, it is easy to just keep adding more fresh stuff. With the moisture, even if the pile gets hot, i have never had any problems with fire. asked a local firefighter, they could not recall responding to a mulch pile fire in 40 years. i have found burning to be a waste of time and the mulch is usable and worms like it.

 

[EastTexFrank]

Thats what i figure ill do for now. ive got a huge vegie patch that we only use a small part of just now. keeping the weeds down is ****, my wife tills it weekly. this may be a good soluton to 2 problems.

It's a great solution. That's what I started doing with the old hay from the farm. I don't till it in, I just put down more hay on top and I'm ready for the next gardening season. It almost cuts out weeding entirely, if any do show up I just drop another pile of hay on top of them. It keeps the soil warmer during the winter, cooler during the summer, keeps it at a more even moisture level and cuts down the amount of watering required. Over time it breaks down and adds humus to the soil. What could be better. This has been the best, almost no-work veggie garden that I've ever had and I've been on a 25 year quest for a no-work garden. I think I'm getting close.

 

[JC-jetro]

Couple of great ideas guys. it is a win win however you look at it. It really does cut down on the competition when you have good soil and a thick layer of mulch, just got to figure our how to scare off the deer and now that's the challenge.I have 4 squash plants below, they are floating on top of 1 ft thick hay and enjoying themselves. I have a ton of squash , I sure hope the darn deer don't develop a taste to them as they have done on my tomatoes.

JC,

 

[Eagle Dude]

Couple of great ideas guys. it is a win win however you look at it. It really does cut down on the competition when you have good soil and a thick layer of mulch, just got to figure our how to scare off the deer and now that's the challenge.I have 4 squash plants below, they are floating on top of 1 ft thick hay and enjoying themselves. I have a ton of squash , I sure hope the darn deer don't develop a taste to them as they have done on my tomatoes.

JC,

A 30-06 will work well for the deer and then you'll have some meat to go with your vegies. I use a .223, it doesn't make as much noise.

 

[JC-jetro]

A 30-06 will work well for the deer and then you'll have some meat to go with your vegies. I use a .223, it doesn't make as much noise.

My choice is .270 as I bag 5 each fall, one buck and 4 does in unit 19 in kansas. My issue is that I don't live on my acreage so they got all night to help themselves to my harvest. They (deer) did a number on my pumpkins after squirrels helped themselves to the seeds couple of years back. I have to admit though, my deer harvest had a sweet hint of pumpkins

JC,

Below is the fate on of them doe's that took a wrong turn to my garden site. just can't keep up with them.

 

[Dave5264]

Good Idea with the Rotary Cutter too.....

we've started piling the hay in the Vegie Garden, this year we're only usng 1/3 of it (its about 100' x 100') so were pilinghte hay and some horse manure onthe other 2/3.

hadnt thought about running the rotary cutter over it....thanks for that idea!

 

[JC-jetro]

Good Idea with the Rotary Cutter too.....

we've started piling the hay in the Vegie Garden, this year we're only usng 1/3 of it (its about 100' x 100') so were pilinghte hay and some horse manure onthe other 2/3.

hadnt thought about running the rotary cutter over it....thanks for that idea!

Dave,

Anytime I used rotary cutter on a bunch of hay on the ground I ended up clumping it here or there. The dispersion was not at all random or uniform and at times I had to raise the cutter to move the clump out from under. If it for the purpose of mulching it just need to be there thick, they'll settle and make thick shield. it is best to till it over with tiller after growing season to incorporate them in the soil. A middle buster or a cultivator should do a decent job even with some clumps. Freeze and thaw cycles should breakdown the clump as well over the winter.

JC,

 

[studor]

Moving a little slower today -- I spent the weekend taking the old hay out of the mow and taking the old floor off. I have used some of the hay in the garden and have the rest in a big pile where I can get at it with the loader. My plan now is to mix the pile with floor scrapings (dessicated 30 year old dung!!) and the wood ash generated by burning the rotted wood floor.The pile from another barn is now sorta like peat moss.
Steve

 

[Rusty2008]

The easiest thing is to spread it on a field with a manure spreader.

I must agree, that's all we did was spread it in our hay paddock and locked it up for just under a year and saw amazing results. Thicker pasture longer, maybe luck but always seems to work,

 

[clemsonfor]

Im posting in this tread so that it pops up in my list of replies. I have searched for this thing twice now for well over an hour and not again. Not trying to dig up onl threads.

-Nate

 

[Duffster]

Im posting in this tread so that it pops up in my list of replies. I have searched for this thing twice now for well over an hour and not again. Not trying to dig up onl threads.

-Nate

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