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We've been converting our Eugene 1/4 acre suburban lot into a permaculture living piece of land.  from English Ivy and Laural to raised beds and living soils. 

The lawns have stayed but the method of maintenance has switched to organic practices.  Top dressing with compost, tall mowing and leaving the clippings in place.  The lawn is a wonderful water storage area to slow the flow to the drains and streams.  We collect rain water into goldfish ponds and use the pond water on our bamboo grove and on the lawns.  City water is reserved for the garden beds on drip irrigation.

The key to the value of the lawn for us is two pairs of Ancona heritage breed Ducks.  The girls give an egg a day for about 300 each or 600 eggs together per year.  Their waste feeds the lawn, their feed comes from a small custom mill in Brownsville about 30 miles away from mainly Northwest grains.

I would guess about half their diet is lawn grass.  Our back yard rarely needed watering (other than the ducks water) and virtually no mowing.   www.donaldstreetducks.blogspot.com.

Best fishes

David

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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