The Sweet Clover Thread

[Brian662]

 

[SD51555]

Does YBSC go dormant in the winter, or otherwise turn brown? One thing I like about my white clovers is their winter performance - they’re still green, the deer are hooving through the snow like fiends for it now.

I've not had YSC above ground in the winter. Whatever came up in the fall got buzzed to the dirt before the snow flew.

 

[matinc]

SD so ysc is very hard then? I can't wait to plant it 6 months

 

[SD51555]

SD so ysc is very hard then? I can't wait to plant it 6 months

I would say so, yes.


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[SD51555]

First look at 2025. After the 15 bushel oats blunder, it’s gonna be interesting to see what happens out here. I did spread some spring trit and white sweet clover, collards, and flax. I also blew on the normal mix last fall, but no idea if that survived the choking rate of oats.

Little clover punching thru. Not sure which one yet.

Slap your seed lady if she sold u hairy vetch.

Mega duff.

I had grass showing last year two, but it got dwarfed by the clovers. Little concerned about it this year.

Some sweet clover already showing. I’m guessing this is yellow.

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[SD51555]

Season 3 is well underway.

Good spots show lots of alfalfa, sweet clover, red clover, chicory, plantain.

Plantain

Hairy vetch getting a nibble.

A little winter trit looks like it made it.

I have no idea what this grass is. Could be brome, could be quack. May have to restart in 2026 if I get a bad fall crop after throw and roll.

Sweet clover nibble.

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[matinc]

SD curious if any balsana clover was in this mixture. It looks amazing. Can't wait to try this very mixture in 11 weeks

 

[SD51555]

SD curious if any balsana clover was in this mixture. It looks amazing. Can't wait to try this very mixture in 11 weeks

It was in the mix I blew on last fall. I also have a mountain of volunteer balansa seed out there from last year's crop. I won't know if it made it until this stuff starts blooming.

 

[SD51555]

Things are looking hairy out there right now, but they always do going into the end of June and then through July. This is the plot that tested high calcium, sulfur, and 5.5 OM. I just got 2.5" of rain in a week, and that fell on 4" of heavy duff under all the live vegetation. I'm expecting a bumper crop of something. This year, I'm gonna throw and roll winter trit and the clovers cocktail. I'm also going to try a big seeded legume like beans or winter peas if I can remember to get them when I hit the seed dealer next month.




The hairy vetch reign of terror continues.



I got some patches of winter rye apparently. I hadn't planted winter rye since the fall of 2023.



I think I've identified my new grass as Timothy. Supposedly makes superior hay, but we ain't feeding hay creatures. It's not a total takeover yet, but I'm guessing I may have to Imox this plot in the spring. Ain't too bummed by it. Last time it got chemical or iron was the summer of 2022.

 

[matinc]

SD 5.5 OM. That's outstanding and it's still climbing with the 4 inches of duff. Have you pulled up any root mass to see if your field is crawling with earthworms?

 

[SD51555]

SD 5.5 OM. That's outstanding and it's still climbing with the 4 inches of duff. Have you pulled up any root mass to see if your field is crawling with earthworms?

When I pulled soil cores, there was a worm in every one.

Ok, maybe most of them.

 

[SD51555]

Not a whole lot to report right now. It’s still hairy. Here’s some highlights.

The red clover is doing the best hanging in for the most years into this rotation. No sign of balansa, and very little YSC. I’d still use them in the establishment year. I just wonder they don’t have the power to get up thru inches of duff layer?

If she sells you hairy vetch…

I gave an extra generous dose of gypsum on the hemp nettle spot last year. It only seemed to make it stronger.

One ragweed. Thousands of seeds, I get one up.

The south third of this plot is about out of food. There’s a little, but it’s far too grassy.

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[Barndog56]

I think the yellow sweet clover is a slow starter, so will grow in establishment years when it's got room, but has trouble in later years when lots of other things get a head start.

Perhaps your soil is too healthy for the ragweed now?

 

[matinc]

SD based on your observations on ysc and balsana would you change either of these seeds in the blend?

 

[farmlegend]

Something to throw onto the pile here -
I did more than the usual amount of frostseeding this past March. Amongst the seeds that have come up nicely are Boston Plantain, Endure Chicory, and clovers - medium red, alice white, balansa, and alsike.
But I can't find me a yellow blossom sweetclover anywhere. They just never showed up. Perhaps YBSC is a bit like alfalfa in that regard, it may not frostseed well.

 

[omicron1792]

Something to throw onto the pile here -
I did more than the usual amount of frostseeding this past March. Amongst the seeds that have come up nicely are Boston Plantain, Endure Chicory, and clovers - medium red, alice white, balansa, and alsike.
But I can't find me a yellow blossom sweetclover anywhere. They just never showed up. Perhaps YBSC is a bit like alfalfa in that regard, it may not frostseed well.

It’s a biannual. Doesn’t really pop till year two

 

[farmlegend]

It’s a biannual. Doesn’t really pop till year two

Got it, thanks.

Gets confusing with red clover, which is usually treated as a biennial, though it can also be considered a short lived perennial. Red clover pops up pronto after planted.

 

[matinc]

Legend how high will red clover grow if planted in mid August if any?

 

[SD51555]

SD based on your observations on ysc and balsana would you change either of these seeds in the blend?

No, I'd still put them in. The plot won't ever look as good as it does the year after it's planted. I've been trying to stave off evolution in this for the longest time, and I think with extremely low inputs of any kind, it will eventually creep back to what it was, and I'll have to intervene to start it over or set it back.

I've been putting down sweet clover seed every year since 2022. I'm sure i've got enough sweet clover seed laying dormant in the soil to keep it going for the next 100 years from all that matured on the stalk. But if the conditions aren't right, it'll never come up.

 

[SD51555]

Something to throw onto the pile here -
I did more than the usual amount of frostseeding this past March. Amongst the seeds that have come up nicely are Boston Plantain, Endure Chicory, and clovers - medium red, alice white, balansa, and alsike.
But I can't find me a yellow blossom sweetclover anywhere. They just never showed up. Perhaps YBSC is a bit like alfalfa in that regard, it may not frostseed well.

When seeded late summer/early fall, you'll see it. It doesn't poke out and stop like perennial clovers. It can put on a foot or two in the planting year. I have no idea about frost seeding though.

I was really excited about it because it produced biomass right after being planted. It also took a pounding from grazing and it came roaring back in it's second year. The very first post in this thread is two years old now, and I mentioned that It got 12 inches tall before the deer started in on it and took it down.