[cherrylaurel]

Hi - Have found this website very useful. Bought 6 acres about two years ago in East Galway and have just planted apple and plum trees, along with blackcurrants and other soft fruit. The soil here is heavy clay, slightly acidic (hence my "name") yet full of worms. I also have horses which provide manure, finally able to use it this year as it takes a while to compost.
Also put in about 70 yards of (mostly) native barrier hedging with mixed results due to prolific hares and failure to remove perennial weeds before planting.
So I learn... Glad to have this website for tips and advice.

[Sugar_Ape]

Welcome to Irish Gardeners cherrylaurel. You'll definitely find it more useful than the water in Galway at present

- Sugar_Ape

[inishindie]

Hi Cherrylaurel

Welcome to the site. I only joined myself a week or so ago and have enjoyed the banter.

I had an e-mail last week from someone with a horse wanting to go organic. I thought I would drop it in


Hello Ian
I have a field where I keep a horse and would like to improve the quality of the grass. How could I do this organically? Thanks T. D. by e-mail

Reply
It sounds as though you are on your way to improving the grass by having the horse turning it’s food into manure for you. Mineral fertilizer is not usually put on to organic grassland; instead legumes (such as clover) are usually grown to fix the nitrogen. Manures such as the horses and even slurry are added too. Research has shown that the most active soil is the one that doesn’t have any type of fertilizer. So there must be other factors at work such as the Ph of the soil, soil depth and the density of the plant roots. If you feel that you need to know more on the subject, the Western Organic Network will soon be running a course on the subject under the heading of Livestock - Grassland & Soil Management

This is a one-day course in Clare, (sorry you have missed the Leitrim one!) to enable farmers to increase grassland production for fodder and thereby reduce reliance on external feed inputs. The areas covered will be on maintaining the flora and diversity in the fields, analysing the soil structure, grass seeding, clover swards and fodder production. There will be a small fee of €20 for the day. Check out the Western Organic website for more information about the course and other ones that could be of interest to you over the year.


http://www.westernorganicnetwork.com/



Cheers

Ian
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