I have about 20 rai and lots of weeds - how to naturally control them?

[TravelerEastWest]

I have about 20 rai in Mae Rim on a hill and lots of weeds - how to naturally control them?

 

I have about one rai with vegetables and the rest are fruit trees.

 

For now I use a weed cutter with takes about four days to clear the farm.

 

Is there a better way to do keep the land between trees and walk ways free of weeds?

[xylophone]

Goats or sheep??

[TravelerEastWest]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

Goats or sheep??

Probably a good idea but too much maintenance....!

[kickstart]

How step is the "Hill",can you safly get a tractor up it ,if so, ask around to locale farmers who have a tractor and grass toper ,get them in .

They might charge for the job, or per rie .

Or ,are they any cattle farms near by ,offer them the grazing ,say you have to use an eltric fence,get them to fence off say 2-3 rie at a time ,cattle will not eat it all ,and you wi;l probaly still have to top the rough bits , they do not eat ,still better than you cutting it all. 

[TravelerEastWest]

11 minutes ago, kickstart said:

How step is the "Hill",can you safly get a tractor up it ,if so, ask around to locale farmers who have a tractor and grass toper ,get them in .

They might charge for the job, or per rie .

Or ,are they any cattle farms near by ,offer them the grazing ,say you have to use an eltric fence,get them to fence off say 2-3 rie at a time ,cattle will not eat it all ,and you wi;l probaly still have to top the rough bits , they do not eat ,still better than you cutting it all. 

Thank you but no cattle we have large dogs and it would not work well...

 

 A tractor would not be possible as we have hills and I need the weeds cut between trees,

 

I am thinking some sort of cover crop that would be stronger than weeds?

[farmerjo]

I have been pondering the same question for many years.

Weeds set seeds all year round here so hard to stay on top of.

Without good fencing and animals it is a losing battle.

Cutting the weeds with a weed wacker(or tractor/slasher) every six weeks is about the only alternative.

If you have any sort of vine weeds on the land they will choke out a cover crop.

 

[kickstart]

5 minutes ago, TravelerEastWest said:

Thank you but no cattle we have large dogs and it would not work well...

 

 A tractor would not be possible as we have hills and I need the weeds cut between trees,

 

I am thinking some sort of cover crop that would be stronger than weeds?

Ok ,clover and clover type cover crops will not grow in Thailand ,too hot ,they are some tropical legume grasses  ,but they will grow tall,and you will be back to squee one, and it will need still need cutting  ,and the seed will need planting/sowing, somehow,and the weeds will still probaly out grow your planted grass.

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, TravelerEastWest said:

Probably a good idea but too much maintenance....!

Actually goats don't need a lot of looking after, and the meat when slow cooked can be good......and of course there's goats milk! Many farmers and "smallholders" in NZ use goats to keep the grass and weeds down. Good luck with whatever you settle on.

[TravelerEastWest]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

Actually goats don't need a lot of looking after, and the meat when slow cooked can be good......and of course there's goats milk! Many farmers and "smallholders" in NZ use goats to keep the grass and weeds down. Good luck with whatever you settle on.

I appreciate your ideas but I am a vegan so eating goats is not an option... and my large dogs would not play well with goats

[TravelerEastWest]

3 hours ago, kickstart said:

Ok ,clover and clover type cover crops will not grow in Thailand ,too hot ,they are some tropical legume grasses  ,but they will grow tall,and you will be back to squee one, and it will need still need cutting  ,and the seed will need planting/sowing, somehow,and the weeds will still probaly out grow your planted grass.

Doesn't sound good - but you are probably correct...

[TravelerEastWest]

3 hours ago, farmerjo said:

I have been pondering the same question for many years.

Weeds set seeds all year round here so hard to stay on top of.

Without good fencing and animals it is a losing battle.

Cutting the weeds with a weed wacker(or tractor/slasher) every six weeks is about the only alternative.

If you have any sort of vine weeds on the land they will choke out a cover crop.

 

I am not certain how many vine weeds we have - we have some that grow on fences.

 

I am not hopeful at the moment but I am not going to give up...

[JeffersLos]

10 hours ago, xylophone said:

Goats or sheep??

Burmese, Lao, or local old grannies. 

[Hummin]

4 hours ago, xylophone said:

Actually goats don't need a lot of looking after, and the meat when slow cooked can be good......and of course there's goats milk! Many farmers and "smallholders" in NZ use goats to keep the grass and weeds down. Good luck with whatever you settle on.

Did you aver have goats before? We have sheep (had goats on the farm where I was born), and far more easy to keep, but still animals that need care and protection as well decent set up for house and fences as well grass they can feed from. At least sheep keeps the gras down, but alot more picky on what they like to  eat than goats. 
 

Our neighbours use roundup, we use no chems at all. 
 

 

[TravelerEastWest]

4 hours ago, Hummin said:

Did you aver have goats before? We have sheep (had goats on the farm where I was born), and far more easy to keep, but still animals that need care and protection as well decent set up for house and fences as well grass they can feed from. At least sheep keeps the gras down, but alot more picky on what they like to  eat than goats. 
 

Our neighbours use roundup, we use no chems at all. 
 

 

"Our neighbours use roundup, we use no chems at all."

 

Yes strong chemicals work well - but like you we don't use any.

 

I can't easily mulch 20 rai but I do mulch in a circle around most of my trees - step by step I will increase mulching...

[farmerjo]

5 hours ago, Hummin said:

Did you aver have goats before? We have sheep (had goats on the farm where I was born), and far more easy to keep, but still animals that need care and protection as well decent set up for house and fences as well grass they can feed from. At least sheep keeps the gras down, but alot more picky on what they like to  eat than goats. 
 

Our neighbours use roundup, we use no chems at all. 
 

 

Hummin,what breed of sheep do you have?

[Hummin]

It is dorper they said, but Im sure they are a crazy mix of other breeds, and we have no papers from the breeder. 
 

Real dorpers sells for 30K and up, we paid 4500 each.