Ohiofarmgirl's Adventures in The Good Land is largely a fish out of water tale about how I eventually found my footing on a small farm in an Amish town. We are a mostly organic, somewhat self sufficient, sustainable farm in Ohio. There's action and adventure and I'll always tell you the truth about farming.


Sunday, June 20, 2010

What to do with all those thistles....

What's more fun that a barrel of monkeys?

A buncha goats and a wheelbarrow full of thistles!


Hey Vita! How's them thistles?

Everyone went hog wild when I rolled my trolley full of thistles into the goat yard. I just yanked the thistles out of the garden and it was pure pandemonium. While you shouldn't let them run wild, thistles are actually pretty good for your soil as the roots can go pretty deep...which loosens my bad soil and allows water to get deeper into the subsoil. 

And the best thing about this kind of "weed-n-feed"... its free, baby! Even if you don't have goats, your clucks will love just about anything you pull out of your garden. What they don't eat will get scratched up.. then just rake everything up and throw in the compost pile. Easy peasy!

Happy weeding everyone!

5 comments:

Lilac Cottage Homestead said...

I do that too. sometimes I let a small part of the garden grow up a little with weed and then pull them all and thow them to my goats and chickens.

Unknown said...

I am sending an invite to your goats to come and feast on the thistles I just pulled, LOL.

Chai Chai said...

Very nice. Do you supplement the goats with hay in the non-winter months or do they get by free ranging?

Do you feed them grain?

Ohiofarmgirl said...

LCG - yep that kind of "leaving fallow" is a great strategy not only for feeding the goaties, but for your soil. Extra point if you sprinkle scratch on that area and call the clucks in the spring - they will scratch it up for you. Great work!

Vicki - Vita said she tried to figure out how to take the bus there but she couldn't figure out the transfers.

CC - since I'm milking all these ladies (except Ginger)they get the most luscious alfalfa hay I can buy from an old timer up the road. When I had just the two mini's they only got a small handful of "whatever" hay and a boot out the door. Dairy gals get as much "Goat Power" (bagged food) as they can eat on the milking stand twice a day, free loaders get just enough grain to taste it...and a boot out the door. Hum... I should do a post on this...

Weekend Cowgirl said...

Thank goodness for goats! Mine love these goodies also.

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