Fodder Experiment

We've been reading lots about sprouting grains hydroponically to feed the cows and chickens.  By sprouting them and letting them grow up to 6" tall, the food value increases by four fold and feed costs go way down.  I've also read that it increases milk production and butterfat content.  We've found a fully self-contained system that costs $9,000 and uses lots of electricity.  We've got to find a better solution.

I found a great discussion on the forum for Keeping a Family Cow.  These folks are having success with lot tech and low electricity solutions.  We decided to give it a try.

We're starting with wheat, just because it's what we have handy.  Yesterday we soaked it all day.  The grains doubled in size.

Today we drained it and spread it in trays.  If everything works well, it should be a mat of grass in one week.

We're already having visions of a full system in an outdoor greenhouse.  I think we'll need to do 3-4 trays each day to feed all the cows and chickens.  That means 21-28 trays going at any one time. 

Last weekend we finished spreading the compost on our back garden and got it all tilled in together.  My husband got the furrows cut and now we wait.  They say it's good to let the manure and soil make friends for 2-3 weeks before planting in it. 

Our indoor starts are doing well while they wait for outdoor planting.  The cabbage and brocoli are huge and I don't know if we'll be able to wait 2 weeks to plant them.  These celery have to wait until late April or May but they are looking fantastic.

We started hardening off the cabbage and broccoli, getting them used to sunlight.  The first day we put them out for two hours and then two more hours the next day, two more the next, until they are out all day.  I failed to do this one year and everything almost died. 

Moving the starts outside gives us more room under the grow lights.  We started tomatoes and peppers so they'll be strong in late May when it's safe to put them out.

While we were out working in the garden, I got close enough to the pasture to see that the chickens have eaten it down too far.  Some of the little grass plants are gone and some are so tiny.  We closed up the gate way to the pasture and we'll keep the chickens in for a month to let the pasture grow and recover.  We also put out some fresh grass seed to help it fill in.  Today it's raining, perfect weather for grass seed to start.  I pray that it grows like mad!