Hello everyone.
I live on my off-grid property which consists of 1 hectare of grassland/pasture surrounded by 3 hectares of woodland.
I have a small orchard and a vegetable garden along the edge of the pasture, but I let most of the space do its thing. My pasture is incredibly biodiverse, with dozens of different grass species and wildflowers. It really is quite a sight especially in spring, combined with a million pollinators and birds. I let everything go to seed so that new plants can get established over time.
One a year, usually in October, I have a friend come in with his tractor and shredder to make it all nice and neat again. The shredded material is left in place to slowly decompose over the winter and nourish the soil. Also, that helps me get rid of unwanted shrubs that will inevitably grow each year all over the place.
My neighbor asked me if he can come in to make hay bales out of my grass this summer, and I am not sure about that. On one hand, that would help me keep the place nicer and cleaner, but on the other I am afraid my land will be “robbed” of its crop without anything going back in to nourish the soil. I don’t have any grazing animals that would fertilize the soil, and because he asks me every year, I am worried about soil health in the long run.
What’s your take on this? Am I worrying needlessly as grass will always thrive no matter what, or do I have a point? Also, with my yearly shredding, we’re talking ONE heavy machine treading on my land only once a year. With hay making, a tractor needs to come in multiple times to cut, turn over, collect into swaths, forming and picking up bales, plus I would still have to do the shredding since my neighbor won’t get at the toughest corners of my place where most shrubs tend to grow.
