How to turn dry field into pasture?

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

No, what you do is you put your animals on it while it’s green, in winter. They will eat what they like, trample the rest. You can send them through again after things have dried to flatten the dry stuff left over. You make your „defensible space“ (I am sure you have heard about that, otherwise just google) around your home and outbuildings. You harden your buildings against wildfire (again, lots of recommendations from our fire fighting agencies). Then you‘re done. You just can’t water yourself out of the wildfire risk.

Thanks for the assumptions. That's not what I planned, nor what I have said in this thread.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Spiky plant with cool pattern.

Miner's lettuce @Baymule I'm used to the circle ones, with flowers growing up in the middle but the partial circle is also miners lettuce I believe.

 

[Stephine]

Thanks for the assumptions. That's not what I planned, nor what I have said in this thread.

I am sorry if I didn’t understand what you were asking about. I thought it was about attempting to keep a green pasture through summer and keeping the area from being a wildfire risk since it’s close to the house?
Anyway - I found this for you, about irrigated pastures in CA. The important thing is to look at the „Evapotranspiration“ zones on the map and the table. It illustrates very well how it could make sense to irrigate in some areas and not in others. Hope it’s useful.

 

[Stephine]

I am sorry if I didn’t understand what you were asking about. I thought it was about attempting to keep a green pasture through summer and keeping the area from being a wildfire risk since it’s close to the house?
Anyway - I found this for you, about irrigated pastures in CA. The important thing is to look at the „Evapotranspiration“ zones on the map and the table. It illustrates very well how it could make sense to irrigate in some areas and bot in others. Hope it’s useful.

Spiky plant with cool pattern.
View attachment 89286


Miner's lettuce @Baymule I'm used to the circle ones, with flowers growing up in the middle but the partial circle is also miners lettuce I believe.
View attachment 89285

That spikey stuff is milk thistle (a very valuable plant to restore the liver), pretty but be careful, it likes to take over. We had none here before the fire and while we were rebuilding it got away from me and is now everywhere. Best not to let it go to seed!
The more heart shaped leaves are regular miners lettuce leaves, the round ones only show up once it starts to flower.