Saving seeds; sweet clover

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> Once you have a weed seed free environment you have the makings of a very

> good project. The worst mistake anyone can make is to let weeds seed in an

> uncontrolled fashion.(and then plough them up again the next season)

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It can take several years to get weed seeds in the soil to easily managed

levels. I don't think you can ever completely eliminate them, but letting the

weeds seed one year means several years of weeding to get back to low levels.

Still, wind born and bird stool will continue to bring them in. the material

world is always a struggle, just the more attention you pay, especially in

terms of timeliness, the more manageable it becomes.

 

>

> All the clovers and chick weed are fast growers. American sweet is one of

> the best.....previously this was know, I believe, as Astragalus Sinicus

> which the chinese used and it was imported from there to America.

 

The sweet clover used in america is Melilotus. It is a biennial. I have

followed corn in the fall with rye, then frost seeded sweet clover into the

rye

in February. After the rye comes off, for either forage or grain, the sweet

clover takes over. it makes a bit of growth the first year, but the second

year it comes on like gang busters. It will get several feet high and blossoms

are bee heaven - the majority of honey in the US is made from sweet clover,

mostly what has naturalised in ditches and fence rows.

 

There are two varieties - white and yellow. The only real difference is that

the white blooms a little later. As the naturalized sweet clover around here

is

mostly yellow, I would plant white to expand the period of peak bee forage.

 

Warning - if cows get into sweet clover and eat a lot of it, it adversely

effects vitamin K levels. Any wounds can be very difficult to get to clot.

This can be a serious consideration if dehorning mature horns or casterating by

the gonad removal method.