Thanks to pigs
Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter
I've just been rotavating my last year's pig run which was full of nettles and docks before they went in there. Not a nettle or dock to be seen! No roots even!The land is completely clear. A bit of a drastic way to clear land but very effective. Also manured!!
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oldherbaceous
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jane E, just wondered does it make your vegtables taste of sausages and bacon. 
Kind regards the silly Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
Kind regards the silly Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
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pigletwillie
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easy
Kindest regards Piglet
"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind".
"You cannot plough a field by turning it over in your mind".
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oldherbaceous
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Sorry Mr P, You know what i'm like though. 
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
Kind regards Old Herbaceous.
Theres no fool like an old fool.
Hi Jane,
When I moved here over 30 years ago I used Pigs to do the initial clearance and then kept them on for meat to feed my rather large family.
They did a wonderful job of clearing Docks, Nettles, Ground Elder and roots in the soil but what they didn't manage to clear was Couch Grass. I am certain that they succeeded in making it worse. As they chomped their way through things they drop minute fragments and in the case of Couch are all new cuttings. I was left with 5 acres of Couch and this was before the use of Glyphosate and I was then Organic. In the end I used Aluminium Sulphamate which is now sold as Dax which was recommended by the organic because it reverts to a fertilizer.
I now live in a Couch Free Zone but that is now down to the use of Glyphosate. So yes if you have a largish patch of ground that is in need of real improvement but this is really to point out that they are not a 'cure all.' Along the way the Pork is magnificent. BTW I kept Tamworths which make superb eating.
When I moved here over 30 years ago I used Pigs to do the initial clearance and then kept them on for meat to feed my rather large family.
They did a wonderful job of clearing Docks, Nettles, Ground Elder and roots in the soil but what they didn't manage to clear was Couch Grass. I am certain that they succeeded in making it worse. As they chomped their way through things they drop minute fragments and in the case of Couch are all new cuttings. I was left with 5 acres of Couch and this was before the use of Glyphosate and I was then Organic. In the end I used Aluminium Sulphamate which is now sold as Dax which was recommended by the organic because it reverts to a fertilizer.
I now live in a Couch Free Zone but that is now down to the use of Glyphosate. So yes if you have a largish patch of ground that is in need of real improvement but this is really to point out that they are not a 'cure all.' Along the way the Pork is magnificent. BTW I kept Tamworths which make superb eating.
JB.
That's interesting.I'd not thought of that scenario with couch. Are Tamworth's lively? I'm just about OK with GOS but you have to manage them carefully if you're not very big and assertive, because they're both. I avoid walking through them carrying feed, because they'd jostle me over.I'm hoping they'll calm down after piglets. I love the way they chat to me and each other, with so many sounds and calls
Hi Jane,
I found Tamworths to be wonderful and very intellegent Pigs. What I said about the Couch is very true but by using Pigs instead of coming across a buried root every spadeful they had cleaned the soil beautifully. My 5 acre plot had Plum and Damson suckers Brambles which I cut and cleared and the Pigs saw off the regeneration and roots Elderberry was rife. I have a special tool for dealing with Elderberry. A wrecking bar stuck up a 20 ft scaffold pole and a couple of planks of 6"x3" timber and I lever them out and the Pigs finished the rest of the roots off but at times the stumps used to actually fly out of the ground.
I found Tamworths to be wonderful and very intellegent Pigs. What I said about the Couch is very true but by using Pigs instead of coming across a buried root every spadeful they had cleaned the soil beautifully. My 5 acre plot had Plum and Damson suckers Brambles which I cut and cleared and the Pigs saw off the regeneration and roots Elderberry was rife. I have a special tool for dealing with Elderberry. A wrecking bar stuck up a 20 ft scaffold pole and a couple of planks of 6"x3" timber and I lever them out and the Pigs finished the rest of the roots off but at times the stumps used to actually fly out of the ground.
JB.