Grass Leys
Our grass leys are probably the most complex in this country.
The aim is two-fold:
1. Improve the soil.
2. Make the animals healthy.
Our latest ley has 30 different grasses, herbs and clovers. Many of them are deep rooters – some can be 8 feet deep – this gets air and organic matter into the soil and brings minerals from deep down in the soil up to the surface, enabling them to be passed on through the plants to grazing animals.
This is a very expensive project, but we believe that when the soil is right you are 90% of the way to getting everything healthy. These leys will go down for 4 to 5 years, then 3 to 4 years of crops. Animals will graze over the whole farm at the same time. Additionally manure from animals combined with application of compost and compost teas provides the fastest, and most sustainable way to get soil healthy, alive and diverse.
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Laverstoke Park MixtureHerbs Alsike Clover Caraway Chickory Fennel Greater Burnet Salad Burnet Kidney Vetch Birdsfoot Trefoil Lucerne (cv POMPOSA, pre-inoc.organic) Ribwort Plantain Red Clover (AL TASWEDE) Common Sainfoin Sheeps Parsley White Clover (cv NANOUK) White Clover (cv MERWI) White Clover (cv REISLING) White Clover (cv BARBLANCA) Yarrow Grasses Cocksfort (cv AMBA) Cocksfort (cv PRAIRILA) Cocksfort (cv SPARTA) Hard Fescue Italian Ryegrass (cv LIGRANDE.organic) Meadow Fescue (cv COSMOLT.organic) Rough Stalked Meadow Grass Smooth Stalked Meadow Grass Tall Fescue Tall Oat Grass Timothy (cv RASANT.organic) Timothy (cv ERECTA) |