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I planted just straight grass seed, creeping red fescue, and sprinkled a flower mix in as a little sugar. Not much. https://silverfallsseed.com/product/short-creek-mix/ is the flower seed mix I added. Nice local provider here in Williamette Valley. I was able to drive to the producer to pick it up.
I’m considering getting a crimper/roller to roll down the orchard after it has gone to seed. Have you don’t anything like that?
I met two brothers at the OTF in 2020 who had planted 100 trees, also as a hobby, in Fort Atkinson, WI. They might be fun for you to connect with. I’m sure they won’t mind receiving an email from you. Philip Jones [email address removed by admin – not meeting forum policy] (I am checking with them to see if I can share their contact information). Very nice brothers. It might have been OTF 2019….
BTW, I contacted my local NRCS office to get help choosing the grass for the cover crop. The conservation officer came out for a field trip. After researching, she recommended I use creeping red fescue because it gets sparse in winter which therefore might make it easier to dig for truffle. All a guess but an educated one. I planted this seed last fall. It is starting to come in. I also mixed in a small amount of flower seed – YES, flowers are expensive. Many times more expensive than the grass seed. Will let you know what happens this growing season.
Have you decided what you are doing with flowers in your cover crop?
I’m going to plant a cover crop this fall and am interested in adding flowers to the mix. I want to understand if I should or SHOULD NOT include nitrogen fixing plants in the orchard.
I’d love to learn from what you have learned. I had the conservationist from NRCS out and she concluded that a cover of creeping red fescue would be an advantage as when it goes dormant in the winter it gets quite sparse which makes for lots of room for digging truffle. I just want to mix in some flowers for the beneficial insects and diversification of species in the field.
Any input is appreciated.
