Re: lacto-fermented hay? Fertility Pastures

[Guest guest]

> >Is it possible to efficiently and effectively lacto-ferment large

amounts of

> >freshly cut hay like in a big outdoor pit or something?  Would

this preserve

> >the vitamins, caretenoids, and chloryphyll through the winter

months to feed

> >to animals?  Would cows eat it, or would the soured taste offend

them?

> >

> >I can't tell whether this is a good idea or a stupid idea.  (I'm

leaning

> >towards the latter since I seem to be the only one to think of it)

> >

> >Chris

I read a book written in Britain in the 1950s (I think)

called " Fertility Pastures and Cover Crops: Based on Nature's own

Balanced Organic Pasture Feeds " (by Newman ). I believe it is

out of print now, although I would be thrilled if I was found to be

wrong. It was about a dairy farmer who would use combinations of

certain plants and dairy cows to turn barren ground into very fertile

soil. He was committed to not feeding the cows anything but grass (he

found it to be cheaper in the long run the way he did things). He

developed a complex system of piling up certain grasses/legumes and

packing it down in certain ways and letting his cows eat it. I don't

think he ever gave his cows anything but this fermented-pasture and

fresh kale in the winter. His cows loved it and he never had to serve

hay up to his cows (I'm pretty sure) because it was a self-serve

operation. He had healthy soil, healthy milk, healthy cows, and less

actual labor and cost than most people. There are black and white

pictures of his cows, his fermented-pasture operation, and his farms

(he actually healed the soil and turned it into a producing dairy

farm in several different locations I believe, but I'm not sure). I

have found many good books on organic farming before, but this one is

the coolest. It has pasture recipes (usually with more than five

different plant seed combinations) for a variety of climates and

seasons. The recipes we would use in my area of Oklahoma would be the

Drought and Fall recipes (and maybe the Spring recipe). Anybody who

has an animal or plans to get an animal that eats grass should read

this book. You might have to do some real digging find this book, but

I think you will find the digging to be worth it. I learned so much

from this book.