Free Hay and Compost

Grass clippings and hay can make excellent bedding for your plants and garden. They break down slowly and add minerals and nutrients back into the soil as insects and microorganisms break them down. If you have any livestock like chickens, they love to sort through hay and grass clippings looking for tasty treats like dead bugs.

Recently I purchased a lawn sweeper for my homestead to help collect grass clippings when I mow the yard. It takes a lot of mulch to keep the grass and weeds down here so we are going to really start piling it on for next year. Last fall we got around 6 dump trucks full of wood chips and it's almost all gone so I'm going to be collecting all the grass and leaves I can.

There is a wide section of grass next to the 2-lane highway near our house that they had recently mowed. The grass was really tall when they coarsely cut it. They left behind several clumps of hay that had dried in the sun so I decided to drive my riding mower and lawn sweeper down to collect some grass.

It takes a little while to drive down pulling the lawn sweeper on gravel. The wheels aren't really made for gravel roads so I had the throttle turned all the way down. It's about a quarter mile down to the highway. I think I may put the sweeper in the truck and drive it down next time, and hitch a ride from a neighbor to come pick up the mower and ride it down quickly.

This would allow me to fill up the bed of my truck full of hay. The hopper on the lawn sweeper holds quite a bit, but I think this process with my truck would be more efficient overall. I'm deciding what to do exactly today so I can go get some more.

I also talked my neighor into mowing his yard when it gets tall and collecting his grass and leaves. He's going to pitch in on some gas to help out also. Win win all around.

If you have a garden and pretty good sized yard, these lawn sweepers are an excellent investment. Don't throw your yard clippings away!