Planting Prairie Grass
The trend around central Indiana is for farmers to clear cut woods or take out trees to make more ground for crops. It's sad, but I've seen 3 different woods fall in my lifetime right here from my house.
Going against that trend, I decided that we should take farm ground out and plant trees. Neat concept, eh?
I contacted the Clinton County Soil & Water Conservation office and asked for help in the design and species of grasses and trees to plant. Shout out to Ben Reinhart and Leah Harden for all their help.
Ben got me the details on grass, flowers, and trees to plant - and hooked me up with contacts for obtaining the proper machinery to drill the grass seed and plant the trees.
Charlie Davis was instrumental in getting the grass seed ordered. I consider him an expert in prairie grass / CRP. Thanks Charlie!
We (Dad, Nick, Alex, Kathy, and I) planted 3.2 acres of prairie grass where we intended to plant the trees. Then we planted prairie grass, wild flowers, and sorgum along the edges of the field. All told, I took 7 acres of farm ground out and Dad took an additional 1 acre. Now not all of that is grass and/or trees. Some of that will be sunflowers and the rest will be where Kathy & Alex are building their new house.
We used the 1946 John Deere B tractor (18 HP) to pull the seeder. It took about 30 minutes to figure out that we were trying to plant too deep and clogging the drill. Well that, and the disc cleaners were so tight that they would not allow the wheels to spin. Special thanks to Danny Lahrman for helping with that bit.
Once we got it going, we planted 3.2 acres in about 3 hours. We pulled in 1st gear and I'm sure folks in Mulberry could hear the putt-putt-putt of the tractor - something no one around here has heard in 40 years or so.
The wind did not cooperate much - it was blustery and a cool 54 degrees F. We bundled up.
A few pictures of drilling in prairie grass, wild flowers, and sorgum.
Going against that trend, I decided that we should take farm ground out and plant trees. Neat concept, eh?
I contacted the Clinton County Soil & Water Conservation office and asked for help in the design and species of grasses and trees to plant. Shout out to Ben Reinhart and Leah Harden for all their help.
Ben got me the details on grass, flowers, and trees to plant - and hooked me up with contacts for obtaining the proper machinery to drill the grass seed and plant the trees.
Charlie Davis was instrumental in getting the grass seed ordered. I consider him an expert in prairie grass / CRP. Thanks Charlie!
We (Dad, Nick, Alex, Kathy, and I) planted 3.2 acres of prairie grass where we intended to plant the trees. Then we planted prairie grass, wild flowers, and sorgum along the edges of the field. All told, I took 7 acres of farm ground out and Dad took an additional 1 acre. Now not all of that is grass and/or trees. Some of that will be sunflowers and the rest will be where Kathy & Alex are building their new house.
We used the 1946 John Deere B tractor (18 HP) to pull the seeder. It took about 30 minutes to figure out that we were trying to plant too deep and clogging the drill. Well that, and the disc cleaners were so tight that they would not allow the wheels to spin. Special thanks to Danny Lahrman for helping with that bit.
Once we got it going, we planted 3.2 acres in about 3 hours. We pulled in 1st gear and I'm sure folks in Mulberry could hear the putt-putt-putt of the tractor - something no one around here has heard in 40 years or so.
The wind did not cooperate much - it was blustery and a cool 54 degrees F. We bundled up.
A few pictures of drilling in prairie grass, wild flowers, and sorgum.
Drilling in seed, E side of property.
Looking back to ensure proper depth and that the drill remains clear of debris.
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