d36csr Hatfield

Have you looked at the Plants for a future database? It is a database of over 7000 useful plants created single handedly by a brilliant man called Ken Fern. For each entry there is lots of data, including hardiness zone, cultivation details, and uses.  You can search the database by plant hardiness zone. I did so and got 192 hits for species hardy to zone 1 or 2, and 598 for species hardy to zones 1, 2 and 3.

I've listed a couple of perennial species below that jump to mind for your situation. I'm from the UK though, so i'm well out of my depth!

Siberian pea tree, zone 2: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Caragana+arborescens

Ostrich fern, zone 2: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Matteuccia+struthiopteris

American Ground nut, zone 3: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Apios+americana

Chicory, zone3: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Cichorium+intybus

Autumn Olive, zone 3: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Elaeagnus+umbellata

Sea Buckthorn, zone 3: http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants.php?Hippophae+rhamnoides

Regarding varieties, the Harmonious Wheatsmith by Mark Moodie specifies the following characteristics:
"Varieties pre-dating 1826, long straw, strong vegetative vigour, broad area of side-shooting, high resistance to cold, very late maturity, pure winter type, floral initiation requiring at least 6-700^o T-Sum, large leaf area for better photosynthesis, absence of carbon starvation and highly developed roots to avoid drying of immature grain, 1 part above ground, 2 parts below.

Such varieties are; ble siegle (or Bled Siegle or Ralet); Autumn Victoria (victoria d'Automne); Prince Alber; Autmn Chiddam; Golden Top; Dattel; Sharrif Squarehead; Poulard d'Auvergne; The Giant Squareheaded Hybrid Wheat (tritical 1907); Schlanstedt Rye.
Trials have also begun with Dinkel; Champlein; Red Standard; Chidham Red and White Chaff (related to Chiddam?); Squarehead Master; Percival's blue cone; and Maris Wigeon.

Oats being tried include Radnorshire Sprig; land oat; ceirch du Bach; Cornish; Old Cornish and Hen Gardie.

Ah yes, I guess it is important to retain all the topsoil you can if there's not much of it to start with!
    The issue is that, as the saying goes "nature abhores a vacuum", and so unless your pasture has been recently cultivated, the herbacious plant niches will all be filled by the grass, etc. So provided that you haven't been cultivating the land, the sparseness of the vegetation should in theory be due to the limited resources (water, nutriets, etc.) all being used up by the existing vegetation. Thus, if you sow the millet straight onto the pasture, I would expect there to be no room at the Inn so to speak.
    Whenever we introduce a plant to an area, we must ensure that there is an empty niche which it can fill. While some species, such as many trees, are tolerant of competition, and are therefore able to open up niches in the most unlikely places - rising up through dense pasture and thickets - most annual crop species are adapted to germination in the low competition environment which humans create by removing the existing plants.
    As millet does not grow in my climate I don't know much about it, so it may be that it is possible to cultivate it in the way that you propose. I have heared that it is tollerant of 'poor' conditions, but such statements usually refer to the climate and soil. One must bear in mind that the native flora, having evolved under your conditions, and now being well established, present quite a challenge to any exotic newcomer. Were millet able to prosper under your conditions without significant human intervention, one would expect it to already be naturalised in the area.
    On a different note, the issue with using fresh manure is not so much that it heats the area up, but that the high levels of soluble nutrients which it contains cause plant roots in the area in which it is applied to dry up. This is misleadingly known as 'burning'. It's like what happens to slugs when cruel people cover them in salt. Whats more, I expect that your vulnerable little seedlings would be affected worse than the existing flora.
    Sorry if I'm going on a bit. You are of course at full liberty to disregard all that I have written. My opinion though is that your time and resources would be better spent mulching an area of the pasture for later use. I wouldn't reccommend using the fresh manure/hay as hay contains loads of grass seed. You could even do a 'grow through' mulch into which you could plant big annuals on wide spacings (to avoid making so many holes in the mulch that it's ineffective) such as pumpkins, etc. See http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=3rd3e69BnC8C&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=grow+through+mulch&source=bl&ots=KTjWv6B0R4&sig=30UmO17Y2AFq0sELvAIzLKCvxQ0&hl=en&ei=PJQNSu-nK9SZjAe27OmtBg&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1#PPA56,M1 for more details. If you use a plant matter based mulch this should eventually compost down, deepening the soil, whilst remove the weeds and growing a crop.  My experience is that chickens LOVE pumpkin seeds, and humans love the rest. Win - win - win!

In response to your last post Leah, I think it will be an up-hill struggle using the method you describe, although I am obviously unfamiliar with the conditions. As the perennial weeds will be well established, not to mention well suited to the environment owing to their being native, I expect they will have grown through the manure before the millet has even germinated.
    Prior to sowing my clover patch on an area which was previously pasture I removed the sod using a spanish style mattock (azada). It was surprisingly quick and effective. I then piled up and covered the sod to compost for next year. Although this would be more work per square meter, it would probably provide a greater yield for that work.
    Also, is the manure/hay mix well composted? If it's not it'll probably "burn" the seedlings.
    Sorry if the above is discouraging for you. I figure it's best that you hear all the views that the forum has for you and then you can decide for yourself.

With regard to your comments on growing from seed in clover beds TCLynx, that's useful info, thanks. So unless one is growing a particularly vigorous species such as many grain varieties, plants should only be translplanted into the bed once they have grown above the height of the clover, and even then decent vigour is probably a big plus.

Your comments on nitrogen fixing are also interesting. As long as nitrogen is being fixed, its got to enter the wider system eventually as far as I can reason, but do you think that white clover is particularly poor at sharing it? I would be very interested to read the studies you mentioned if you can remember where you found them.

Perhaps it would be interesting to do a comparison between a mulched bed and a "clovered" bed for various crops to see whether the increase in yield is worth the bother of mulching. My feeling is that using clover is probably appropriate for certain crops in certain environments and situations.

Yield of other species aside though, it's worth remembering that clover is itself edible and is an insectary plant particularly good for bees and certain butterfly and moth species.

Blue skies, Ben

I was going to send out a pdf of The Harmonious Wheatsmith which is a leaflet detailing the Bonfils method, but since I only have a hard copy and would have to get the pdf off my mate, and since I'd feel bad about ripping off a fellow permie's work, I thought I best just post a link where you can pay £3 (about $5) to download it. Maybe as a compromise one of you could buy it and then email it to anyone else on the forum who's interested?

You can buy the book by clicking on "ebooks" on the authors website: http://www.moodie.biz/

In the Bonfils method, Clover is sown in spring (April in the UK) and allowed to establish before cereal is sown by pressing it into the soil in early summer (June in the UK). Making a little gap in the clover sward would probably help the cereal get established. This works only for old varieties of Old World cereals because they are exceptionally vigorous - old varieties of wheat being able to out compete other grasses and crucifers - and can therefore manage with the competition from the much less vigorous white clover. Newer varieties of grain have been bred for high productivity under a "conventional" growing regime at the expense of vigor and don't do well in this system. Likewise, many of the commonly grown annual vegetables have low vigour and would probably also struggle in this system. However, I expect that the big crucifers (brassicas), if first established in containers and then planted out into the clover sward would do well as they would be much taller than the clover. I intend to try out perennial kale (Daubenton) using this system next year when I've fenced out the bunnies from the clover patch. It would also be interesting to see how maize, sunflowers, climbing and sprawling cucurbitas (squashes, cucumbers), and yams would do in this system. I've had American Land Cress self seed into pasture, so maybe it could co-exist with the clover. Any more suggestions anybody?

have you seen this detailed article on "Feeding the Flock from the Homestead's Own Resources"

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Growing-Poultry-Feeds-1.html

    With the comfrey, make sure that you plant a sterile variety, otherwise it can self-seed. This would be quite a problem as it can grow from even small root fragments, and is reputed to survive well over a year when shaded owing to the energy stored in it's bulky roots, so getting rid of it is said to be very difficult. For this reason it is also important to make sure you put it in the right place -  like when you plant a tree - it's going to be there for a while.
   Bocking 14 is a sterile variety which is particularly good at extracting potassium from the subsoil and is therefore the most common variety for use as a green manure.
    Bocking 4 is also sterile and has a high protein content, and is therefore the best choice for use as animal fodder.
    Both varieties are only avalable as plants as they have to be propagated vegetatively. To save money you can just get a few to start with, as they can easily be propagated by division once they've grown some.
    One source claims that comfrey needs a lot of water, so you'd do well to put it in a shady spot if it's hot round your way. However, as it is extremely deep rooted, it will be more drought tolerant when established.

    I've never heared that it raises soil pH though. Do you know how it does this Paul? Yet another reason why comfrey is king.

Blue skies, Ben

I have little idea as to whether this is relevant to your climate as I'm from the UK, and know little of Oklahoma, but I am going to grow grains using the Bonfils method this year. Perhaps you could adapt some of it's principles. Basically, the Bonfils method involves sowing white clover as a perennial groundcover, and once it's established you sow the grain through it. The clover fixes nitrogen, suppresses weeds and prevent's erosion. It is claimed that if you return all crop residues to the soil as mulch, cereal can be grown year on year on the same spot of land whilst fertility continually improves. Should this be true, you'd only have to clear the land of weeds once to get the system up and running, and from then on you'd only have to do a bit of maintenance weeding.
    If white clover doesn't do well in your climate, perhaps you could use an alternative weakly competitive groundcover instead of white clover.
    Grains aside, I have been wondering if one could grow other crops through a weakly competitive groundcover such as white clover. It definately would save a lot of mulching.
For further info see: www.metafro.be/leisa/2000/164-13.pdf
If you want to know more, I can send you another, more detailed pdf on request.