# It's a legume.



## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

Pretty sure about that.

I found it entertwined in my asparagus.

Pretty little blue flowers with pods of little brown seeds.

Its new to me though.


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## oneokie (Aug 14, 2009)

Hairy Vetch


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

I guess it came in with some compost


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## chickenista (Mar 24, 2007)

Vetch is good stuff!
I make sure that I care for my spring crop of it and encourage it as a green crop in the garden.
Great feed for rabbits and chickens etc.. A huge favorite here.


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## postroad (Jan 19, 2009)

It was a bit of a pain to disintangle from the asparagus though.


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## NickieL (Jun 15, 2007)

yup, vetch!!! great cover crop.


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## jwal10 (Jun 5, 2010)

We planted it with oats for hay and grain. The hills here will be purple in the spring, It was planted for erosion control and to build the soil in the 40's and 50's....James


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## fishhead (Jul 19, 2006)

I saw where someone cut and baled miles highway ditch that was loaded with that plant.


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## Tiempo (May 22, 2008)

chickenista said:


> Vetch is good stuff!
> I make sure that I care for my spring crop of it and encourage it as a green crop in the garden.
> Great feed for rabbits and chickens etc.. A huge favorite here.


Toxic to cattle and horses though, it's not welcome here.


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## ksfarmer (Apr 28, 2007)

Tiempo said:


> Toxic to cattle and horses though, it's not welcome here.


Tiempo , are you sure you mean hairy vetch? I always understood it made good pasture and hay for cattle.

Edit added:
I did find this reference by googling ;
Although hairy vetch is said to make good silage or pasture (Duke, 1981), there have been reports of toxic effects on cattle fed high proportions of hairy vetch (Bugg, pers. comm.). For example, Odriozola et al. (1991) reported that in Argentina, grazing a herd of 33 Aberdeen Angus bulls for 20 days in a pasture composed mainly of hairy vetch led to 8 of the animals developing conjunctivitis, rinitis, dermatitis, fever, and loss of hair. Death of all 8 animals occurred within 15 days after development of the symptoms. No more animals became sick after five days had elapsed following removal of the herd from the pasture. The toxin responsible remains unknown: other vetches contain cyanogenic glycosides, but the syndrome observed here does not correspond to these toxins. Some have ascribed the toxicity to aphids associated with the hairy vetch.

Now I am confused;


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## pancho (Oct 23, 2006)

Tiempo said:


> Toxic to cattle and horses though, it's not welcome here.


We used to feed vetch hay to our cattle. Had a nearby farmer who baled some every year. After the first year we had it growing everywhere. Everything liked to eat it.


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