planting sweet clover

[mendocino queen honey]

Hi all,

in general I am only interested in forage the is already present and growing in great profusion. but... due the high price of feed one of my location owners sold all his cattle and there some forage land available and he seems to be open to input about what to plant on about 20 acres. so naturally i wanted to do a little checking into he posibilities.



A few quesions about sweet clover.



What a good source for sweet clover seed in calif (meaning cheap)?

What's a good method/ timing for planting?

Matt

[dragonfly]

Probably the best price is at your local feed and seed store. That's where I buy mine. When I planted it, I had the field disced in early September and broadcast the seed. We get Sept rains here, as a rule, and I left it alone and let it do it's thing. You would probably have a much better crop of it if you plowed and sowed, then irrigated, but I'm a hobbyist and there are other sources around, so I didn't worry too much.

[cow pollinater]

I tried it in two pastures that I have. In one pasture it never got started and in the other it did fine but I never saw much bee action. It didn't reseed itself there so I let it die out. Different plants will produce better in different regions, and I don't much think that stuff is suited to California.(at least where I'm at)

[mendocino queen honey]

a couple of years ago, I paid for 100# of clover seed, planted it. it grew ok till june. The head man harvested and bailed it up before it flowered- without regard to my stated plans.:doh: I didnt know that he was going to do that. i neglected to stipulate how long it shoulsd be growing that i would never have gone to all that effort for nothing. The rancher just shrugged when i gently brought it up. I dont want to make waves and possibly loose the site.

moral of the story: Dont plant for honeybees unless there's an agreement ahead of time. there has to a clear bennefit for the keeper.


Matt

[BEES4U]

White sweet clover was planted near my bees two years ago and it did not grow because of improper seeding. It was seeded over bare ground and no watering!.
The birds, quail, moved the seed around on the ranch and now it's over 4' tall.
I am collecting the seed by stripping it off the plant before it self sows.
:)At this date, 9/19/08.The bees are all over it in the morning and late afternoon.
You can wear a light glove and harvest the seed your self.
S&S Seeds on the web will be happy to sell you seed. But, it's by the sack.
Keep you eyes open for plants in your area that are going to seed.
I keep my seeds in the refrigerator until the 1st winter rains and scratch them into the moist soil and tamp the area. i would scratch the seed in every 3-4 feet.
If you can not located seed I guess I could mail a small sample of seed to you at your cost.
You really want the seed from your area for adaptability.
Good Luck
Ernie Lucas Apiaries

[Bizzybee]

Cheap and Sweet Clover don't go together well. It's a tiny seed and covers a lot of ground. So it fetches a high price. A good plant for the bees though if it'll grow in your area. You will get a couple of blooms off of it, first yellow then white. Pretty cool!

I have one yard located on a deer hunting club where the guy that runs it takes an interests in about anything and everything living. He loves having the bees around and offers the same. Whatever I want planted he gets. I've spent a fair amount of time checking out the seed available to the hunters and there are many. So I ask for plants that benefit us both, for the bees and other wildlife around.

Problem has been for the most part that our rain has been off for quite a long time now. And it has been terrible, the amount of money those guys have spent in seed only to have it fail because of the lack of rain.

I suppose I would advise the same, talk to the farmer and see what his goals are and work together to meet both of your needs.

Good Luck!!

[Dave Burrup]

I have spent most of my life trying to kill sweet clover. It is considered a weed aroung here. Now that I have bees I planted it. I planted it in the spring, seed on top of the ground, watered it once every two weeks, mother cropped it with sunflowers, and I got a good stand. Next summer I should have some good pasture. The seed will remain viable in the soil up to 20 years. So if you plant it once you have it for ever. It will reseed very well and the wind will scatter it all over the place. It is a bienniel so you need to get seedlings every year. I am surprised that some of you had failures with it I really thought it would grow everywhere. It is also very drought tolerant.

[alpha6]

I planted yellow sweet clover this year on about 6 acres. Pretty much just threw out the seed and did a light rake over it. It took well and should flower out next year as it is covering the ground nicely this fall. The reason I like it and white sweet clover is it doesn't require a lot of water. Great nectar producers and makes good honey.

Got my seed at the local COOP.

[Zane]

Snowmass has a local co-op? do they have elkhorn chandeleres? and gold plated chicken feeders? lol:D sorry Aspen area has always been a place to joke at from us Glenwood kids!!!
I finally found some buckweat!!yippee!! a little late though! and bought some white clover for $4.50lb and saw some "yellow" clover for under$2.00lb.. has anyone tried "Yellow" clover? it looks pennicoted due to the seeds being pink.