Alfalfa pellets works wonders!!!

Howdy all - just wanted to repeat my offer of alfalfa seeds to any who want them - in a couple months, mid-summer, you'd be chopping the tops off & putting them in a bucket, adding water, letting it stew and not worrying about buying AP's... ;)

TamTam I'd love some. There's a vacant lot across the street and I think it would be lovely all full of alfalfa :-)
Trade? SASE? Whatcha want :-)

Marc

Thnaks TamTam. I am a little afraid of the roots. I may buy a Mantis soon. If I did then it would be no problem. But I am hung up on wanting an electric one but in one place I need to use it, there are no electrical outlets.

I'd love some, let me know how you want to do this

Thanks Mavie:
Have so little time so much to learn!
Have a great day hope bp stays where it belongs
God Bless
Barb

Anyone who wants Alfalfa seeds, just send me your address in the "other" mail!! No trades necessary - glad to spread the seed!!

Kell - you should try just a few plants in a small area, let them grow a couple years and then make a garden there! I've been digging up alfalfa in my "new" gardens today and the soil is so wonderful that a little hand shovel to loosen it is all I needed - sometimes I had to use the clipper on the root way down deep, but lots of times I'd just pulllll that root out - WOW - what a rush!!! And the worms!!!!! Wheeeee!!!! My soil is normally rock hard (clay) and the dark loose soil around the alfalfa is like a miracle! :)

u're ALL very welcome.

Barb, a suggestion, whenever i encounter a thread that i find infos in : i have a notebook, i jot down the title of the thread, name of who post, date and time. [that way as i scrool down to read, i know where to come back. copy and paste the info to save in my computer.] when i have free time, i print and file in a folder so i can read the info as i need it, without having to turn on the computer. printed materials comes in handy when i am mixing formula's to either fertilize or spray the plants. yeah the bp is finally under control. THANKS!!!!

Kell u should get that electric Manthis, it is a life saver! i use several 100 footer electrical cord to reach the area where i want to dig. made my job much easier, since i am the only one who tends to my plants.

TamTam i thought Alfalfa are planted in the Fall, then harvested in June. correct me if i am wrong, i do not know as i have not grown them before.

MaVieRose - you are probably right, and that would explain why some alfalfa are still green under the snow & why it's the first to appear as new growth, even before crocus - hardy buggers!! I've been experimenting for a few years now and if I let it go to seed (around June-July) the new ones will come up before the first frost. Last year was an incredible summer, just about everything went thru three "springs", the alfalfa went to seed and re-grew quite a few times! (So did other things that NEVER do that, tho!!) All I know is I have alfalfa that's able to be cut & put in water for fertilizer a few months after it first appears - and as you see in my pic above, the first babies are almost a foot high in the warm earth by my house...those are from seed, the hardy ones that I was digging out today are coming back like gangbusters. I'm sure yours will grow just as well and you'll be set for fertilizer in no time!! Your goodies will be on their way this weekend, too!! :)

TamTam - thanks for the seeds got them yesterday!!

Judy

Just wanted to say how great this post is. As soon as we locate some Alfalfa for a good price I will be trying this out.
Many thanks!

Great thread! I learned alot! And I just ran around the house with a bottle of witches brew (as posted above) in the hopes of eliminating whatever has done this to my poor Jessie Noel!

Closer shot...

Sequee...do you see any cat droppings? or insects of any kind? Check the underside of the leaves...it seems like you would need to see something for that kind of damage.

Shew!! All the Alfalfa requests were mailed out today - a couple days later than promised... And just had to add a few extra goodies in the envelopes - everyone enjoy!!!

Oh TamTam thank you so very much.....can't wait to get it planted. :-)

Ma. when I click on this link it only shows for me to sign up to get the book.
HYPERLINK@www.downloadmyebook.com]

sorry for the wrong link. i edited and replace the right links
http://www.geocities.com/RainForest/9008/alfalfa.html -->different types of alfalfa

http://www.kcweb.com/herb/alfalfa.htm , http://www.localharvest.org/store/item.jsp?id=2884 --> alfalfa for human consumption

MVR, Alfalfa takes a long time to establish itself when planted . It is normally planted late Spring with a cover crop of oats on our farm.
The oats grow quickly and can be green chopped later on leaving the tiny alfalfa plants to continue on their own and is not harvested until next year. We get 3 or four cuttings on a good stand of alfalfa every year.

The fall sowed evergreen grain I think you are talking about could be Winter (hard) wheat. It's sowed late Fall and starts growing right away, stays green under the snow and looks like you put in a golf green after the Spring thaw melts the snow. Pretty to look at while everything else is brown.


Referring to your link about the pellets that have been combined with other ingredients for small pets.As the link mentioned they are brownish.
A pure alfalfa pellet like we use is bright green like fresh alfalfa hay and still smell like fresh hay.

Glad to see you on line
*/;-)

Scoot, the pellets i buy are bright green in color, smells like fresh cut hay as u said. even after soaking, they are still bright green.

here is the link where i read about Alfalfa's Fall planting --> http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/2193/299.htm , http://www.mfaincorporated.com/agronomy/forages/alfalfa/tips/planting.asp , for crop rotation --> http://alfalfa.okstate.edu/pub/stand-949/crop.htm

thanks, am glad i can post again. frankly, i miss doing research and chatting with u guys :D.

Wow!!! So much knowledge in one place. I'm awe-struck.
Thank you very very much MaVie for starting this thread.
Although we still have quite a bit of snow on the ground here, it won't last forever.
I fully intend on keeping tabs of this thread and post my success along with some pictures of my garden this year using the information provided.
Wow.....what knowledge.
Thanks again.
Darrell

u're very welcome Darrell! pls. do keep us posted.

This is one of the very first threads I read when I joined DG. I was impressed then and I'm impressed now. I fully intend to give AP a test in my "little piece of Heaven".

Thank you MaVie for taking the time to post the information and answer all our questions.

Judy

I just joined DG and found this very interesting. I had a rabbit which I fed AP and let him run around the garden. Often the AP would get wet and mushy and I would get throw them in the dirt. Everyone was shocked to see how large and big everything in my garden grew. I thougt it was from the rabbit droppings and some of the growth may have been. But now, I thinking it was really from the AP. I have been using epson salts on my roses for years and the roses continuously flower and bushes are large and tall. Normally, I still have roses in Nov. and even Dec. especially if the winter is mild like this year. I'm really enjoying this site. All of you seem to know so much and I have a lot to learn. Thank all of you for sharing your info.

Grace

Grace welcome to DG. You can be sure any time you see a posting from MaVie that she has totally researched the subject!!! Just look at all the links she has provided above. Of course I'm partial to "facts" versus "maybe". She provides information so that each of us can make up our own mind as to what is best for our garden.

Enjoy "watching the garden grow".

Judy

Hi Grace...You are almost a neighbor! You will find a bunch of us here from N. CA !!! There is always something to learn here...join in and enjoy yourself!
Margie

Welcome Grace to DG forums. feel free to jump in any time. always remember, life is a learning process most of the time, if not all the time!

Follow-up to Scooterbugs

I use it on all , except Iris' only get it once in the Spring .( they do not need fert.)
Houseplants included but never on seed(lings) until they are well on the way and potted up.
For house plants, I just work some into the soil .

I've been using Alpha Tea to bottom water my seedlings .....(actually I've been watering EVERYTHING with it since first coming to this thread) is this a bad thing to do ...... ? I was actually pretty proud of how many seedlings have been sprouting......

Also, I don't always 'cook' it, sometimes I just top off the 5 gallon bucket stir it around and continue watering..... Does it have to sit ?

Other posts talk about adding a cup of Epsom salt.......should I add this too....? Could I still continue to water EVERYTHING if I added a cup of Epsom salt to my mix..... ?

MaVieRose, thanks so much for all the links... They've kept me busy tonight. I bought some AP and plan to begin using them this week. Thanks again!

I have gone to every feed store, our Co-Op and farm stores NO ONE has Alfalfa Pellets, told me they have no call for them so discontinued for the Cubes, trouble is the cubes do no have anything but Alfalfa, no mollases, can I still use that, or is it useless without the other ingredients.

Kareoke
I'm with ya, don't feel alone....I went to find some of that at our local feed and seed store and there are horses everywhere around here in the country....they only have the alfalfa pellets minus the molasses...but there is hope!!! ....they said if I wanted some they would order it for me. :) Ask around and see if they'll do that for you too. Isn't that just crazy they don't have this at a feed and seed store?? lol wow!

Julie

BrugAddict, I did, and I went to our Co-Op farm store they told me no where in IN. can you get the Pellets any more as the horse owners went to the cubes because of less loss, so guess i will do without

Kareoke, Plain old alfalfa is what you want.

Some well meaning posts about molasses and other stuff are getting everyone off track .

Those are combined ingredient feed pellets for certain animals.

Grab a gunny sack and come up and get some .

That's crazy isn't it? wow I don't understand that! Well just take the alfalfa cubes :)

Hey, wait....it's not too far from you to get to Scoots house...start now and you'll be there by Christmas! lol just kidding. Wish I lived nearer to where she lived I'd love to grab a gunny sack lol...

What is the difference between a "Pellet" of Alfalfa and a "Cube" of Alfalfa? (other than the obvious) Aren't they both Alfalfa?

If you take a cup of "Pellets" and or a cup of "Cubes" aren't they both still a Cup?

If Molasses is missing from the Pellet or Cube, simply buy some Molasses from the grocery store and add it to your concoction.

Just a thought.

Darrell

Agriculture molasses are a bit more difficult to find. Here is a site to purchase:

http://www.garden-ville.com/Products/Liquids/Molasses.htm

We buy it at Lowes

You can use ANY molasses, wet or dry , IMO

Cubes are just hay bale sections (called flakes of hay) compressed but machine , that is cut into cubes about 2" x 2 " , more or less.

Pellets are a higher grade alfalfa content which has been finley ground and extruded in pellet form . You can also find alfalfa meal , being the product BEFORE it was made into pellets.

I've been to every feed, seed and farmer's coop in my area and cannot find it. I will try Lowes again, they did not have it last year. Scoot, do you mean that grocery store molasses will work?? I've never seen or heard of dry molasses, it makes sense that they would have them.
Someone used the grocery store molasses last year and said it was a big mess...

I don't use molasses, see no reason to.

You will not find AP at a Lowe's or any big box store.
AP or Alfalfa Meal is a protein boosting ingredient that is mixed into feed (at the feed mill) used for large animals.

It's possible that you just do not have it in your area .
Up here where livestock only have green pasture from May to October it is a necessity for supplementing the diet.

I don't make 'TEA' .......... I just see no reason to. It spoils in a day , stinks and makes a mess.
After it drys on the soil you have to work it in anyway.

I just don't understand why some gardeners want to take a tried & true SIMPLE method and make it more labor intensive ('-'?)
I need time to just hang out and enjoy the fruits of my labors instead of making un necessary extra work for myself

Scatter AP or meal and lightly scratch it in so it stays put.

You could use soybean meal instead , same application except it is a light brown/tan color.
SB meal is also a feed ingredient found at Farm Co-Ops and feed MILLS.

Outta here ,

Later,
S

This message was edited Apr 10, 2005 9:25 AM

alright scoot - I'm gonna take a look-see at a couple of likely feed stores in the neighborhood and if that don't work I'm heading in your direction.