I need a source for yellow sweet clover seed in the north Dallas area.
We need to get a couple hundred pounds. Any help would be MOST
appreciated!

THANKS!!

Have you called Marshall Grain company or any feed stores?
Why yellow sweet clover?

>Why yellow sweet clover?

Thanks, Nadine. Not from Dallas, we don't know who/what
are the feed/seed stores. We've a trip planned there this
week, so we wanted to pick up the clover while there since
we cannot find it here.

We're going to use the sweet clover as cover crop to build
nitrogen and add organic matter. We're a certified organic
farm in SE Oklahoma, with main crops NuMex chile peppers
and heirloom tomatoes.

Our cropping scheme is 50' x 300' plots, which alternate between
crop and fallow. The fallow plots will be sown with sweet clover
which will be tilled under in July, left bare til September and
then planted in cereal rye. The rye will then be tilled under
next spring and then planted in crops (mostly chile peppers).

We've seen this "alternate tillage" method used very effectively
for weed control, in addition to the soil-building benefits. It does
mean that 1/2 the fields lie fallow for a year, but we don't see
that as necessarily negative when the results are healthier soil.

Vicki

I strongly recommend reading "Soil and Health" by Sir Albert Howard. ANYONE who is doing what you are should read it! Sounds like you are on the right track.
Hairy vetch will fix the nitrogen, as will just about any type of legume. Pidgeon pea is a pretty one, too!
Check this out:
http://www.newfarm.org/archive/1000_stories/sare_stories/sills_print.shtml

http://www.newfarm.org is a great site!

Thanks for the article link - it's a good one. We've visited NewFarm
before and always find something good there.

We're specifically wanting sweet clover initially because of its long
tap root. Even though our soil is sandy loam, we want to get the
benefit from the minerals the tap roots will pull up from the sub-strata.

We've used hairy vetch before and intend to use it between rows
as living mulch in the crop plots. We will also be rotating the types
of cover crops after the first couple of years for additional weed
and pest control.

Because this is a new field that has been used primarily for grazing
cattle (aka OVER-grazing in this neck of the woods), there are lots of
weeds, sand burs, and other nasties that need a good dose of
dry molasses and corn gluten meal, as well. So, our crops will be
at a distinct disadvantage for the next couple of years while the
soil improves, but then you really can't hurry Mother Nature.

If you have names of feed stores in North Dallas, we'd really
appreciate it, so we can call them up and see if they have the
sweet clover.

Thanks again.

Give Mike Dobrolovsky at Sanger General Store & Organic Depot a call at 940-458-2511. What he doesn't have he can get for you. Sanger is just south of Gainesville, north of Denton. Another possible resource up north would be Wells Bros. Farm Store just west of McKinney on Hwy. 380, 972-562-1733. Hope these are helpful to you.
Kathe

Yes, of course! Mike Dobrovolsky is a great guy and very very helpful. Sanger General Store and Organic Depot also offers aerated compost tea in reusable buckets that you can take back to have refilled at a lower price. (Those buckets are expensive. Not to mention the positive aspect of recycling…) They also have an incredible Bio-Inoculate product which I have no doubt would be of great benefit to your land, including deeper root penetration.

Call Dixie or BJ Dobrovolsky at Sanger General Store 940-458-2511 we can get it for you.