RDFF
Well-known member
I'm wanting to get a discussion going about different species you've tried and liked for winter grazing, that keeps its green really well into hard winter. Don't care if you're not in Minnesota like me... just looking for options to improve what we have available out there for grazing through the winter (yes, through snow, at least here where I am...)
I'll start it off by saying that I tried kale this past year, and that seemed to stay green pretty well after a hard freeze. Problem was I didn't get to carry it "well into winter", because the cattle liked it so well, every time I ran them in for a new break, they would strip every leaf off it, and then graze the other really high quality stuff like orchardgrass, clover, and alfalfa, etc. After hard frost, kale isn't going to recover, and it's an annual, so it frost kills, although it did seem to "survive" pretty well after a freeze... just didn't grow anymore much... it did shoot new sprouts of leaves though... but just sprouts... nothing like before a frost. It DID set a lot of seed though, and I'm hoping that I'll have plenty of volunteer plants out there next year. We'll see in a few months I guess. Anybody ever have any experience with spinach???
I'll start it off by saying that I tried kale this past year, and that seemed to stay green pretty well after a hard freeze. Problem was I didn't get to carry it "well into winter", because the cattle liked it so well, every time I ran them in for a new break, they would strip every leaf off it, and then graze the other really high quality stuff like orchardgrass, clover, and alfalfa, etc. After hard frost, kale isn't going to recover, and it's an annual, so it frost kills, although it did seem to "survive" pretty well after a freeze... just didn't grow anymore much... it did shoot new sprouts of leaves though... but just sprouts... nothing like before a frost. It DID set a lot of seed though, and I'm hoping that I'll have plenty of volunteer plants out there next year. We'll see in a few months I guess. Anybody ever have any experience with spinach???