3 Ways to Use Alfalfa in a Garden or Permaculture System

[@MichaelJosephJr934]

I top off all my beds with shredded leaves at the end of the season. Then in early spring about a month before planting I add alfalfa pellets to top of the leaves. Water and in a month it's all good and ready.

[@Green.Country.Agroforestry]

Since alfalfa is a broadleaf perennial, and not a monocot, alfalfa hay should be free from persistent broadleaf herbicides, which is one of the big problems with using hay in the garden .. the most likely chemicals that may have been used would be some kind of pesticide to eliminate blister beetles. If the rotting product is already home to some macro decomposers (sow bugs, crickets, ect) then the pesticide, if any was used should be spent to the point of being safe to use.

[@OfftoShambala]

David the good just did an experiment with alfalfa on a bed of horrible unammended soil compared to other amendments and it performed relatively well for just the one additive... he only planted radish and turnips in it, but the turnips tasted better than in the other beds... his radishes tasted best in a bio char bed... if I remember correctly... he had best results with the more diverse amended methods overall though, but two additives in now interested in working with are the biochar and alfalfa... the two other beds that did well were the bed he amended with an array of mostly mineral additives recommended by Steve Solomon after he had his unammended soil analyzed by Steve Solomon and the lasagna bed that he layered with chicken and some other manure on soil, then cardboard, then wood chips and leaves and alfalfa and I think some compost in a couple of layers over the cardboard ... he did another bed with worm castings, one with triple ten and one with urine and one with seaweed or fish emulsion stuff.... He thinks the rain washed out the fish liquid, that coulda been good ... all the stuff helped as compared to the control bed, but alfalfa was a good one. I’m gonna have to get me some of that stuff now.

[@ThePreparedHomestead]

Great comments. It’s always good to see the results of other people’s experiments.

[@richardpallotta6158]

I'm in the upper Great Lakes area ( Superior). Re: the compost teas...I make it using your 3 ingredients but I add horsetail ( along w/nettles, alfalfa,comfrey).

[@carolinekloppert5177]

love your thinking

[@helensun8440]

Mix with flour and steam mixing . Add olive oil, salt, chopped garlic and vinegar. That is my mom’s favorite.

[@B30pt87]

To drink or to put on the garden?

[@resonantconsciousness9248]

I didnt think of making a fertiliser tea, i got a 25ltr barrel, job for today!

[@ThePreparedHomestead]

Great to hear!

[@brianseybert192]

Question! Do you have an opinion of using a living mulch of alfalfa with my potatoes next season? A few years ago discovered jumping worms in my heavily leaf mulched beds. Last year tried straw as a heavy mulch for my potatoes, JW's went right through it, even ended up with a bunch of green potatoes. My thinking is the alfalfa will cover my potatoes, add some nitrogen plus give me some alfalfa I can use in other areas of the garden and in my worm bins. At this point I do not plan on terminating the alfalfa. Stay Well!!!

[@Wilddmother]

If I have old alfalfa cubes that have molded over - are those useful for the garden ?

[@lorettajoy7275]

I've heard that using spoiled hay or straw is fine in the garden.

[@Nu_genele_dictează_soarta3-3-3]

Great video! Keep up the good work!

[@ThePreparedHomestead]

Thanks!

[@joeypilgrim1269]

I just acquired 20 large bales of alfalfa that was said to be high in nitrates and could not be fed to his cows for free. I'll be using them in my mom's garden as well as mine. With it being high in nitrates I hope it will do well. I am a newby

[@opalezell319]

Good video! Thanks

[@norxgirl1]

Have been adding a small handful of alfalfa pellets to the goats daily rations for years....then repurpose their spent hay inoculated with goat poop and pee in the garden....hmmm....would love to get a roll of rotting alfalfa hay....I think my pickup could handle 700 pounds....

[@ThePreparedHomestead]

Yeah, well worth the effort.

[@opalezell319]

Where could I get alfafa bales in Ms. do you think.

[@SpringwaterParkcc]

Check in an ag store. I've found them very helpful.

[@LittleCountryCabin]

I’m in Ms as well. I don’t think you will find the large round bales here but you can find compressed square bales at some local feed stores and almost always at Tractor Supply. Hope this helps🤗

[@johac7637]

The best use of a round bale, is get a few wrapped ones, they wrap them wet, or dry, and put a garden hose in them, trickle it, and have the bale on a drain pan, and water your garden that way, in the Kootneys of BC the farmers wrap the rained on bales, then market them into the City for the straw bale gardeners, and get hay prices, the alfalfa get the premium bucks. I've been alfalfa amending since the early 90s, as we had a pellet plant and got alot of the waste, now I still do it in Arizona, just unloading a 20 yard load, into a pile, covering my prunings, put a couple kiddie pools on top, the monsoons fill them, as does the irr timer, and a few small holes in the bottoms drip water the pile, But I still soil, leaf sample, as I always need something, no easy fix, for anything, healthy soil, healthy food.

[@carvedwood1953]

You forgot eating it. lol

[@melwinney613]

Stop

[@carvedwood1953]

@@melwinney613 wtf are you talking about.