ShooTa
Member
- Location
- Denbighshire - In the vale of Clwyd!
I'm thinking of dotting a few apple trees around the place, you know the saying about an apple a day....Many years ago I worked on a dairy farm in Essex and my first job [in the winter] was to collect a trailer full of apples which were being discarded from the local fruit packing factory. we fed them straight to the milking cows
Agreed 30 tons does seem a bit excessive but as you can see from the photo the land is very sandy... incidentally its a struggle to use seaweed now as there is so much plastic rubbish in it..
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Many years ago I worked on a dairy farm in Essex and my first job [in the winter] was to collect a trailer full of apples which were being discarded from the local fruit packing factory. we fed them straight to the milking cows
Agreed 30 tons does seem a bit excessive but as you can see from the photo the land is very sandy... incidentally its a struggle to use seaweed now as there is so much plastic rubbish in it..
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I’ve been over to N Uist plenty and have often thought that it would be a great place for no till and cover cropping/strip grazing. Ploughing that sand seems crazy, especially with the wind there.
I'm thinking of dotting a few apple trees around the place, you know the saying about an apple a day....
Can't beat a few trees about, eventually I'd like the place sprinkled with a mixture of NZ natives, fruit trees etc.Indeed why not ! Agroforestry
Very good points, N Uist does a lot more cropping than Harris, Our crofts are divided into strips about 2 hectares each. with very little cultivation undertaken, most will grow potatoes for own consumption, shallow ploughing with the potatoes dropped in with the turf behind the plough, I grow carrots, and like to sow oats, basically as a food source for Corn Buntings etc. and to encourage corn field annuals, [ just playing TBH] The machair is grazed by cattle and sheep and they are not removed until the middle of May. also im not overly happy introducing certain types of cover crops as a fair bit of it is SSSI. Ive never noticed any erosion here possibly due to the strip allocation ..However I can imagine the larger areas cultivated in N Uist would benefit from direct drilling
Has this been posted before?
I think Its a good idea. Stomp it a bit and break up the moss , scatter some seed, feed them hay, but definitely concentrate them with electric fencing.Then leave it alone and let it do its thing.He (greg judy) did indeed say that about the non-weaning - i tried it with the sheep this year - I think itll take a few years to get it down pat - but we didnt get 1/2 as many away as i would have liked - that could have been down to me fudging (too tight too early) up or the hot summer....but it depends if you want to - i could see maybe an oppotunity for a hogget style system where you maintain the flock through winter - possibly getting them onto a nearby arable crop or something else.
Im wrapping my head around a field atm which was poor last year - and since autumn when rested its done buggerall - low rabbit grazed stuff and moss - with a compacted layer from over/undergrazing at about 4 in.... which im likely going to get a subsoiler in to speed thigs up as i dont have cows.
However what are your thoughts as to throwing the stock on it in the next week or 2 before spring just for anmal impact ??
ive got a few small bales that i can use to feed in the area as a fallback.
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We are just over the bump in the middle of this photo.View attachment 765740
Not far from the sea at all.
I had to put one out on Saturday
At least you're the opposite end from the fire at the moment
Love it - it's all about that water cycle, whether you get 10 inches or 10 feet of it a year
Looks beautiful Kp, what a amazing area to work & play inView attachment 765738
We are just over the bump in the middle of this photo.View attachment 765740
Not far from the sea at all.