......beet this size contestants

We were able to feed our flock of 100 chickens for the entire summer without purchasing much from our feed supplier......which is rice and/or beans. The unsaleable field veggies, the grinned up "after harvested" tomato and pepper plants.......and the squashes that we grew for animal feed. I might add those sunflowers and cactus as well. So now that the summer is over......what shall we grow for fodder?

For this latest farm experiment.....our farm decided to go with the Mammoth Red Mangel beets......purchased from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company. I tried to get the Scottish Fodder beet (fodder beet seeds in Europe are non-gmo by law).  The European seed must be sent as a food supplement.... a handy technique when shipping seed across borders. The issue with the Scottish is that I was too late in the season to order. These beets that are grown mainly for livestock feed...... contain more energy than hay and are easy to grow and harvest. Mangels contain 4-6% sucrose.

Beets are non-determinant and so the longest season possible will produce the greatest yield. Very cool weather is the biggest advantage of this crop....as low as 50F. Very little fertilizer and best of all....the soil ph can vary widely. It's a good crop that has weight to it.

So.....for the winters.......we can store sunflowers, cactus, beets and banana  squash for fodder.