Planting a field

[crabbitdave]

Hi all, am looking for some ideas and advice as I keep my bees at my father inlaws farm, when I say farm they don't grow anything besides grass, I asked him if I could plant one of the field with clover or something my bees would like, does anyone know where to buy it or do you think there is something better I could plant that didn't need to be harvested and would come up every year, as the tractors should be on the antiques road show


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[snimmo243]

Hi Dave I will speak to Ben he may be able to help/advise but I suppose you have two options depending on how long you can use the field, a one off crop or longer term a meadow!

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[crabbitdave]

Thanks Steven, I thinking about a meadow, the top fields about 2 acre and it been unused for 10 years plus it did have wheat then tatties but they don't use any of the fields at all now


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[nemphlar]

If its half decent grass the only thing that'll compete is white clover

[snimmo243]

Get it ploughed up and stick some osr in it in the autumn :-)

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[snimmo243]

Here's a link about planting meadows from the royal horticultural society - now is the time mate!
http://apps.rhs.org.uk/advicesearch/...e.aspx?pid=436

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[snimmo243]

Planting clover seed mix

Sowing clover seed mixtures
Clover seed can be sown much in the same way as grass-only seed mixtures except more attention must be paid to timing and depth of sowing. Clover requires at least 7°C before satisfactory germination and therefore sowing should take place from mid March in most districts. Clover can be sown at any point through the summer provided that sufficient soil moisture is available but it must not be sown too late in the autumn. Mid September is considered by most to be the latest safe time but not clovers can grow later if warm conditions allow. Ryegrass-only leys can often be sown later than this with satisfactory results. Clover will not germinate satisfactorily if it is sown too deep.*

Clover leys can be sown directly or undersown to spring cereals. (If undersown it is important to reduce the cereal rate to two thirds so that the cereal is not too competitive.) The seed can be broadcasting or drilled. Although very accurate, cereal drills should be used with care as they can bury the seed too deeply.

Lack of consolidation at sowing time can result in poor establishment. Too frequently, it can be observed that headlands and wheelings have establishing clovers, but elsewhere there may be none. This is often attributed to a lack of consolidation. Clover seeds are smaller than most grasses and need to be sown into a well prepared and consolidated seedbed so that moisture can travel from soil particles to the seed. Clovers are more vulnerable to drought after sowing than grasses. This is because grasses have several root tips which emerge at different times whereas clovers have just one. It is therefore essential to roll before and after sowing for a successful take. Robert Handy of Andoversford, Cheltenham had three golden rules when it came to sowing clover leys. 1. Roll. 2. Roll and 3. Roll again. Robin Hill of Cotswold Seeds claims that you should be able to ride a bicycle across the seedbed prior to sowing. These illustrate the requirement to roll.



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[snimmo243]

I can drive a tractor

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[beejazz]

I have accessed this thread by clicking on "Planting a field" from the general forum section. If I had clicked on Everything and anything bit, I would get a whole page of spam, somebody trying to sell 'pills', it takes the form of a blog, forum. I've let Gavin know about it but he can't find anything, and says it could be a problem at my end, but I don't otherwise have a problem except when on here. It don't happen with Firefox only IE, can anybody suggest a fix or what has happened? sorry for straying off topic! Is it affecting anybody else?

[crabbitdave]

Hi Steven, am going to speak to my brother inlaw the first day he's sober about where the roller has gone too, I know where the plough is, I was just trying to find out you thought was the best thing to plant, that didn't need me to turn from a joiner into a farm lol


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