tim Jeandrevin

Kim Bozarth wrote: It was way too strong?

That's like having too much firewood stacked and split! lol

I am in the process of trying an experiment. I built my little cottage on property that is reclaimed old stripmine. The area around the house last summer was bare hard clay. Further out, the rest of the property is woods, and the leaves from the trees have created some topsoil and is starting to do real well, but the open areas, grow nothing. When the fall rains came, the dogs tracking muddy footprints into the house from the clay became a real problem. To combat this, and as an experiment, I put an ad on Craigs list wanting junk, moldy, or mulch hay. I got plenty of offers. The deal I took was a guy that said I could have the hay free, and he would deliver 3 extra large round bails to my house for $50 bucks. I took him up on the offer. Then in early November, I spread about 4 inches of hay over the entire property. We got about 10 inches of snow just after Christmas which really packed down the hay. When the snow melted, I went out and spread a good mix of red fescue, Kentucky blue grass, and perenial rye, right on top of the hey. I am hoping there is enough composting of the bottom layer of the hay for the seed to take root and grow right up through the hay. I am sort of creating my own topsoil so to speak.

Has anybody ever tried anything simular? Any thoughts? Im I nuts?

Tim

I just thought I would pass along a little something I am trying. We just completed our little retirement cottage in late summer. We moved in late July. It was awful dry all summer here in Ohio so I put off planting any type of ground cover or yard until fall. Between finishing touches on the cottage, building a chicken coop, and other "stuff", a yard just didn't get put in.

Then came fall rains. It was pretty much a mud hole. We finely got a driveway in so we could drive and park without the mud issues. From the driveway to the back porch, I put a gravel sidewalk for now. It was wonderful.

BUT! There was still a big problem. Our home is built in an old reclaimed stripmine pit. It is all solid clay. When we let the dogs out, they would avoid gravel at all costs so they could maximize the opportunity to track the think juicy clay mud back into the house.

I put an ad on Craigs list "in need of junk hay".

I got more calls and offers than I could possibly handle. The end result was a total of 4 - 1500lb round bales of hey DELIVERED! for a total cost of $50.00. I have been spreading the hay all over (what will be the yard). It covers the clay mud AND will go along way tward ammending the soil for grass next spring. I hope my idea works as well for growing grass as it does for covering mud. I plan to just sprinking the grass seed down through the partually decomposed hay, water well, and pray.

What do you think? Will it work?

Tim

Hi everybody,
New here. I just wanted to share something I just found in a book. To save a ton of space in your garden or raised beds.......plant pumpkin, squash, zuccini, etc by doing the following:
set a bail of staw on the ground, cut side up, and soak it with water for a couple of days. Punch two holes in the top about the size of your fist, 4 or so inche deep. Make them 2' appart. Fill the indentations with a good mix of compost. Now plant your seeds in the dirt and you have an instant raised bed squash garden.

Tim