Anybody got some grass?

[Jimbo]

Now come on, you naughty lot. You know that I mean the stuff that ends up in the bag at the back of the mower!

A combination of copious rain and May warmth has caused an absolute explosion of grass growth at Chateau Perigord. And it all has to be collected and carted away to rot, hot and smelly, on the spoil heap at the end of our valley. I'd love to get local farmers to cut our paddocks for hay, but their big tractors would never get over our small access bridges (and you can't rely on them to turn up).

I used some grass (ie: about 10 minutes mowing) mixed in with other plant residue to make a hot bed for our courgettes and squashes - which is going well. Any other suggestions for using grass cuttings would be most welcome? Don't say 'mulch it' because the green menace is growing far too quickly for that to be possible.

[CarolineH]

I have this dilema, too, Jimbo. I have a huge steaming heap that my OH pushes off a concrete platform into a rubbish hole at the end of my dutch barn with his tractor - I'm sure that I don't have the same quantity as you, but still 2 hectaires at this time of year generates a healthy stack!

In my daydreaming/mowing moments I was thinking about an article that I read in the Paysan Breton (OH is a farmer) about a local farm installing a underfloor heating system by running the pipes from the house to the cow barn and having it run underneath the bedding from the cows (which can heat up to 50°c) - just a small pump to propel the water around. Perhaps you could do this with your grass stack? Of course, it would be the wrong time of year for heating the house, but could you supplement the heating of the pool, or the hot water system?

I know it's a bit more ambitious than mulching your courgettes, but worth a thought?

[MaggieP]

An idea. I know on golf courses they use this product below to stop the grasss from growing as quickly.

http://www.greencast.co.uk/uk/products- ... primo-maxx

[Mozzie]

I have about an acre of lawn and mow it twice a week because I love my lawn but I don't catch the clippings - I use a very fine mulch deck mower. It leaves tiny cuttings that you don't see and they act as fertilizer to the lawn. Works well but you have to cut it regularly otherwise it will clump or you have to mow it twice bit by bit - if you know what I mean.