Seeding Red Clover

http://www.dualhomestead.com/seeding-red-clover/ Since the tractor had to scrap up a good amount of topsoil to remove all the broken glass and other items, I needed something to protect the remaining topsoil form erosion. Clover seemed to be a no brainer – it is very hardy, and can be seeded almost anytime except during frost conditions. Bees love it, and so do deer. It is a legume, so it fixes nitrogen in the soil. Typically it is allowed to grow and then tilled into the soil as a green manure. The only question was red clover (crimson clover) or white clover. I have white clover in my yard back at the subdivision I am trying to escape. White clover is tougher than red clover and stands up to traffic better. It grows shorted than red clover, and as you trim it with your lawnmower it learns to flower lower to the ground. All in all it seems like a great choice. However, James and I still have not decided on how we want to cultivate – so we are not sure what part land in front of the trailer (military crest? front yard?) we are going to plant so I ended up seeding red clover as it grows about knee high and can easily be tilled into the soil in the areas we plant. Where James and I decide not to plant – it will easily be mowed over and eventually replaced with a better plan for yard usage. The Co-Op suggested we seed an acre with 20-30 pounds of seed – and since I was short of cash I went with the minimum of 20 pounds. The seeds came coated with a protective coat that is a fungicide. In order to spread the seeds I used a broadcast spreader that I inherited from my Grandpa (I wish I knew a tenth of the stuff he did). I simply filled the attached sack up with seed, set the rate I wanted it to spread, and walked around turingin thew crank and spreading seeds far and wide. This was the first real time I used the spreader (aside from a small scale wheat growing experiment that never made the light of day) – and the adjustment was off so in the video you see me loosing some seeds as I filled the bag. No matter, once I set the machine properly it was no problem to walk and sow clover throughout my land. I found it relaxing and I had a good time acting like I had a Gatling gun (you see me on the video making machine gun sounds) – All work and no play makes dual homestead a chore… Luckilly right after I sowed the seeds we had a couple days of good rain – which works well for the clover seeds, but not so good for my newly graded road.