Clover update

A few weeks back I posted about "growing free fertilizer" in the form of nitrogen fixing through clover. Kat bought me some seeds on Amazon, and I decided to test a small patch before dumping it all on the yard. Well, it has started to grow in....


This is a patch in the backyard that Max had dug, so there was no digging involved. I tossed out some compost from the previous year, and watered daily for about 10 days. Then about every other day. Depending on the heat, it should be about twice a week now. Unfortunately, the nitrogen fixing won't start until next spring.
Speaking of last year's compost though....
I had thrown a gourd into it last fall, and by the time I was planting my raspberry bush, the gourd had decomposed. I didn't think anything of it until a strange plant started growing next to the raspberries. Eventually it took over and I found out what it was.

Looks like we'll have some fall decorations again.....

How to grow fertilizer!

Yes, the title is odd, but accurate.

I was reading a book earlier, The Organic Lawn Care Manual, and the author had written about how, 50 years ago, white clover was a desirable plant to have in your lawn. To the point that people would mix clover seed into their grass seed when starting a lawn.
We consider it to be a weed because Scotts came out with a "weed-and-feed" that killed clover. The only way to justify the product was to list clover as a nuisance.

Interesting to see how a company can change the mind of the public in order to sell a product....

Anyway, besides being "pretty", the old-schoolers knew that clover was a "nitrogen fixer" (interesting write up here), meaning it pulls nitrogen from the air and deposits it on the plant's roots. Nitrogen is the primary nutrient that causes grass to grow thick & dark. It is also 78% of our air.
Oh snap! Free fertilizer!

Poking around online, you'll see with a lawn of 10% clover, the "weed" will add enough nitrogen to the ground that you will never have to fertilize the lawn. And it is organic nitrogen. And it's free.
Why was I paying $30 a bag before....?
This is the $12 bag that will make my entire lawn fertilize itself. Heck yeah. As always, I'll post the results.