# Perfect seed mix for pasture?



## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Anyone have some good ideas for seeding a pasture area?? I'm in Arkansas, it's half shade all day, have sun all day, and pretty much nothing has been done to it.


I know a lot of people use the deer seed mixes, also thinking of adding alfalfa too, any other good ideas?? 

My thumb might as well be red, no green thumbs here....but I'm willing to try and want to learn!!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

I just buy a horse pasture mix.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Is that better than a deer plot mix??

A friend of ours was over tonight and said I should plant wheat, that it stays green year round here and they plant it for their deer. I need to do more research on it but, would that be a good thing to add?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

You need clovers to feed your grasses. Alfalfa is very damaging to your soil, it eats a lot... 

So, start with your basic horse mix, add your wheat, barley grass, annual rye grass, buck wheat, red clover (the purple flowered one), sheep sorrel, bird's foot trefoil, and cow vetch.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Thanks goathiker!! Where do you buy all of those seeds and when do you advise I plant? Spring? Fall? Different times for each?


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I can order any of those seeds through the feed and seed store locally or from one of the big seed companies. All these grass and clover seed mixes everyone buys is all grown in Oregon :lol:

I plant in the fall right before a hard rain. The rain pounds the seed into the ground for me. (lazy)

Another thing you can do is take cattle panels and bend them into circles. Put 4 posts to secure them and clip the ends together with snap clips. Inside the circle you can plant raspberries, blackberries, huckleberries, service berries, etc. One plant per cage. The goats will be able to eat what they can reach through and over to get but, won't be able to kill the plant by over grazing it.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

That idea with the cattle panels is brilliant!! I have extra field fencing, I could probably make something similar with some tposts.  Thanks!!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Okay, so I'm getting ready to order seeds...

I already have gotten chicory, red clover, and white clover.

Now on my list is vetch, buckwheat, barley, lemon balm, tobacco, oats, and rye. Then I am also putting in a row of sunchoke and a small section of comfrey. How does that sound?


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Also, I'll be planting a comfrey patch that is fenced in, using root cuttings... Wondering if I should also spread comfrey seeds with my seed mix?


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Can I ask why tobacco?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Yeah... why tobacco??


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Natural dewormer, and if it grows well I may use it in soap.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Really? How much do you give? And how would you use it in soap?

And that's really neat


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

They will graze it as needed most people say, I'll still treat with chemical wormers when necessary but I am curious to see if it'll make any impact at all! 

I would dry and grind the leaves for the soap. I've been working on establishing a garden full of soap herbs so having tobacco would be a plus!


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Wow! Really neat I would have thought tobacco would be toxic


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

If Plantain grows as a weed in your area, it would be an awesome soap plant. It could be made into small bars for use when a person has a lot of mosquito bites, poison oak, etc.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

What about jewel weed? I've read that it is good for poison ivy, is that correct? Is it good for goats?


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## Suzanne_Tyler (Jul 19, 2014)

Yep, jewel weed is good for poison ivy. I have a friend who makes and sells "poison ivy soap" made out of jewel weed. Not sure about giving it to goats, though.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Good for poison ivy as in, helps it to grow or eliminates it?

The goats love poison ivy, that was the first thing they annihilated last year!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Is there a certain strain of plantain that's better than the others?


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

deerbunnyfarm said:


> Good for poison ivy as in, helps it to grow or eliminates it?
> 
> The goats love poison ivy, that was the first thing they annihilated last year!


You rub the juice from the jewel weed onto your skin when you get a poison ivy rash.(Or poison oak if you're in the West.) The juice is kind of gel-like. It's a very pretty plant.

Some people claim that if you drink the milk of goats that have eaten poison oak or poison ivy, you will be less allergic to it & itch less.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

deerbunnyfarm said:


> Is there a certain strain of plantain that's better than the others?


There are 2 kinds I know of. Both are considered edible but the narrow leafed plantain is kind of fuzzy & not a nice texture when you eat it. The wide leafed one is better for eating. I was told that the plantain seeds are used to make Metamucil. I wonder if that's true? I once purchased a cultivar plantain with very large leaves with a bit of a purple tinge. But my chickens ate it & I've never seen it again.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

It helps get rid of poison ivy. I need to make some of that soap because my mom and I get poison ivy pretty easily, she usually has to have steroids to help get rid of it


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Ahh, I definitely will look into jewel weed!! That sounds like a good candidate for my new raised beds next year, I'll put it somewhere the goats can't get it though because I don't want to share. 


I'll start looking around for the broad leaf plantain too!! When I looked up if it grows well in my area it launched into way too many species for me to figure out, at least at that moment since I was on a time crunch. But I will dive into it when I have a chunk of down time. Thanks so much!! 

My husband and I have both had to have steroids for poison ivy at one point in another, we're extremely sensitive to it so our kids probably will be too. I actually had poison ivy in my throat and lungs after a neighbor burned it in his fire pit and had to be hospitalized.


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Ouch! I found a recipe on Pinterest for Poison Ivy Soap


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Oh, jewel weed is really pretty and lots of fun for kids cause the ripe seed pods pop as soon as you touch them


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Wow, that's crazy!! I'm going to head to Pinterest now and find it too. Lol!


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## glndg (Feb 8, 2013)

catharina said:


> There are 2 kinds I know of. Both are considered edible but the narrow leafed plantain is kind of fuzzy & not a nice texture when you eat it. The wide leafed one is better for eating. I was told that the plantain seeds are used to make Metamucil. I wonder if that's true? I once purchased a cultivar plantain with very large leaves with a bit of a purple tinge. But my chickens ate it & I've never seen it again.


Hmmm......IDK. Depends, I suppose, on who is doing the eating. Buckeye butterfly caterpillars love the narrow-leafed plantain, but I have never seen them on the wide. :lol: I am going to plant narrow leafed plantain for the butterflies and the goats. ;-)

So many plantains! Two more here:
http://www.larnerseeds.com/search/node/Plantain


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

I was eating it!:yum: I bet goats don't care what kind you plant, & butterflies are fun. I clicked on the seed website-that first one is actually pretty!


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

Well, I should get to actually test the jewel weed idea. I've gotten poison ivy down both my arms, one of my arms has a cast on it so I'm REALLY hoping to catch the poison ivy before it goes under my cast


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

I found a recipe for jewel weed salve. Here's what it looks like. I will get to try it tomorrow after it cools.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Hi! The salve looks so pretty! I hope the itchy rash doesn't get under your cast!! I would just go nuts if something like that happened! The most important thing with poison ivy or poison oak is to get all the oil washed off your skin, but you can't really do that with a cast.

Both my sons (fraternal twins) turned out to be horribly alergic to poison oak. 2 years ago, Joel missed 4 days of school--he was just covered with it, face & privates included, & so miserable! The next week James got it & looked like he was headed the same direction. I knew doctors had shots for it so I took him in--I just didn't want another miserable kid missing school. The doctor gave him ONE shot & it was GONE. Incredible. I think it was Cortisone or Prednisone maybe. Well worth it in my opinion & I won't hesitate to do it again if they look like it's going to involve large areas of their bodies.

Let us know how the Jewel Weed does! We have a lot of plants out here that are related to it-I don't know if they'd work the same.


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

I'm the other way, I can roll in poison oak and it doesn't effect me but man, just touch a Stinging Nettle :lol:


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Does anyone else get stung by their cucumber plants?  I'm about to start wearing gloves around that thing. It does NOT want me to touch it. 

I have all of the seed now and just waiting for fall!! DH gave me the go ahead to double the size of my garden as well, so I will have room for a vegetable garden, herb garden, and soap garden! I have a lot of seeds... I did already put the sunchoke in so we'll see how those go. I ordered comfrey roots and was super bummed how those came in, they're completely shriveled and dried up. Idk if they'll grow. I have jewelweed seeds as well as quite a few others; echinacea, calendula, chamomile, lavender, and more! 

I'm probably most excited and most nervous about my new grapevine though. Grapes are complicated!!


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## goathiker (Apr 14, 2011)

Grapes are all about preparing the soil properly. The plants themselves are fairly easy. Don't over fertilize them, they like sloping well drained soil, a southern slope preferably, and lots of sunlight.


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

I'm really hoping it'll thrive where I put it. It's in a very sunny spot with somewhat rocky soil and a little goat poop/hay compost combo. Not as fertile as where I have my veggies, same amount of sun as my cucumbers are getting and they're thriving so, fingers crossed!


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## TeyluFarm (Feb 24, 2016)

So, my experiment was cut short. The poison ivy went under my cast last night and I refuse to let it go unchecked under my cast. I Really don't want it in my incision sites. So I got a steroid shot this morning. 

However, on my other arm before the shot, I had applied the salve. It wasn't working so I scrubbed it in some, then decided to wash that arm with dawn dish soap and reapply the salve. It has not itched at all since. I can touch it or rub it and it doesn't itch.


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

Sunchokes (Jerusalem Artichokes) are so fun!! 8 feet tall with sunflower/daisy blossoms. I bet the comfrey will be ok. You can't kill that stuff. But if it doesn't make it, PM me your address & I'll mail you some starts. It's practically a weed around here, no sense in paying for it. 

Lavender can be really hard to grow. It likes sandy soil with perfect drainage. Like Dutch soil! I'd kind of suggest building a high border with rocks or logs, sitting the plant on top of a layer of sandy soil & then filling in around the root ball with more sandy soil so then the root ball is completely above the natural 

ground level:_______O###0###O_______. Full sun.

Enjoy your gardening!


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## deerbunnyfarm (Dec 14, 2015)

Aww thanks!! 

I may try that next year with my lavender! I currently have a lavender plant that is doing pretty well, but it's next to my mint plant and I'm afraid in a year or two the mint will completely take over that section. It's a garden area between my driveway and walkway so there is no where else for the mint to go. I LOOOOOVE lavender so I want lots of it!!


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## catharina (Mar 17, 2016)

You must have the right soil-LUCKY!!!:greengrin: I wonder if there's anything mint WON'T overrun? Mine's blocked on all sides by concrete, under my grape vines. I don't think it can smother those!


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