Seeding a Field at the Farm
Fall is a great time to take care of some of those lawn maintenance chores.
Not long ago, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, took on the task of seeding a piece of land adjacent to my field of Christmas trees. The area had long been used to access the growing trees, various compost piles and my large storage building. Over time, sections became messy, mucky, and unleveled, so Chhiring cleared and cleaned the space, went over it with a chain harrow, dropped the grass seed, and raked - the work has made quite a difference.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
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- 11 years ago, I planted a field of small Christmas trees in a far corner of the farm near my enormous compost piles. 640 Christmas trees to be exact. Over time, the trees have done exceptionally well, but the land next to them needed some care.
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- One one end are my compost piles. I will share more about them in an upcoming blog. And on the other end of the space is my storage area where I keep various building and repair materials – wooden stakes and boards, metal framing for our protective burlap structures, plastic planters for potting up seedlings, etc.
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- First, the land was cleared of rocks and debris and then leveled.
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- Chhiring attached this chain harrow to our Kubota model M7060HD12 tractor – a vehicle that is used at the farm every day for pulling agricultural machinery, plowing, tilling, transporting and so much more. Chain harrowing can be used to break up dead material such as thatch in the sward.
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- The harrow has a rigid frame that holds metal chain links.
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- The harrow is supported at the front by a rigid towing-bar.
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- It works by going over the ground in one pass to prepare soil for seeding.
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- Here, one can see the difference made after the harrow passes. And see all the dead material it picked up along the way?
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- Chhiring pulls the chain harrow around and around the field, picking up thatch as he goes. In lawn care, thatch is a layer of organic matter that accumulates on a lawn around the base of the grass plants. Thatch is a combination of living and dead plant matter including crowns, stolons, rhizomes, and roots.
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- On the right – smooth, harrowed soil. On the left – the area still left to do.
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- Next, Chhiring prepares the seed. We chose a good quality seed from Lesco Inc., a company that specializes in turf seed for large areas such as lawns, golf courses and sports fields to roadsides and sod farms.
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- This seed mix is a double eagle perennial ryegrass blend. Be sure to use a seed that is best for the designated region and climate. Chhiring pours the seed into our spreader. We use this spreader for dropping grass seed and fertilizer whenever needed.
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- Look closely and you can see the seed coming out through the bottom of the spreader. A spreader is used for evenly broadcasting seed.
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- This process is all done on foot to ensure all the areas are well-covered.
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- If you follow this blog regularly, you may recognize this tool. It is our own invention – a four-rake contraption that we use primarily to “drag the roads.”
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- Here is Fernando “dragging the carriage roads” last December before my holiday party. This means, raking the gravel along the roads to level and tidy them. The soft rakes are attached to pieces of wood and hooked up to the back of our Polaris ATV. An additional piece of wood is placed on top for added weight. The crew gets all four miles of carriage road raked pretty quickly using our own handmade and “right tool for the right job.”
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- Here, Chhiring hooks up the rakes to the back of the tractor and goes over the land to mix up the seed with the soil.
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- Raking is necessary in order for the seeds to come in contact with the soil so they can germinate properly.
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- That night, we were lucky to get a bit of rain, so the entire space was well-watered. Now, it’s time to “watch the grass grow.”
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- And soon we started seeing the sprouts come through the soil. Perennial ryegrass is a popular grass for lawns that get a lot of foot traffic. It grows fast and only needs five to seven days to germinate.
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- Every day, it grows more and more. I will share additional photos of this area and the compost piles in an upcoming blog. Are you reseeding any lawn spaces in your yard this season? Share your comments with me below.
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