Growing Millet Outdoors

[MiaCarter]

Has anyone tried to grow millet outdoors?

I have a ginormous empty field behind my house with all sorts of grasses. I thought it might be a nice spot to grow some millet.

I'm tempted to lob some sprouted seeds out there after a rain and till them into the ground so they don't get eaten.

Thought I'll probably have to wait until spring, as winters are bone dry here. But summers see daily rain.

Anyone had luck with this sort of approach?
Growing up, we used to do this with berries -- blackberries and raspberries -- and it worked beautifully! We made our own berry patches. It was lovely. We just threw them into the designated spot and they grew. No care/maintenance required. Wondering if the same was possible with millet?

Any recommendations on which type of millet is easiest?

[cindy]

Personally I would get some long trays, pots and use organic untreated soil and look into planting some millet on your own on you lania. Keep in mind some millets are seasonal and will not do well outside at this time of the year. I grew it in trays on my lania.... soak it over night then plant.

[debbie276]

I grew millet in my garden many years. I just threw down seeds from their bird sees ans it grew wonderfully. Best part is you can feed it long before it gets old and dried out. Be sure to plant a lot so the wild birds get theirs too.

good luck

[Sally]

By growing your own millet, you can harvest it while green, which is the stage they really love, especially when feeding babies. Good luck with it, I should be doing this too!

[dutch]

MiaCarter....yes not just millet...all the seed thats in the bag

I plant it along the fence line and the birds eat it all year round...not just the seed heads...the whole plant

I think my birds are more like cows than birds

[MiaCarter]

debbie276 dutch Sally cindy -- Thanks for your thoughts!

I'd considered doing a little container garden, but figured that it would need to be a REALLY big container garden in order to generate enough. But there's certainly no harm in giving it a go, even if it's not enough to take the place of the millet that I purchase.

Dutch, that's a great idea to just toss out the entire variety of seeds.
It actually inspires me to do what I've been meaning to do forever.
As I spoon out the seed hulls, I often remove lots of good seeds too and I hate the waste.
I've been meaning to put the seed-hull mix aside and toss it outside for the birds, but I've never gotten around to finding a jar or container to use for this purpose.
So perhaps I'll put them aside, add some water to allow sprouting and then I'll toss them outside with the hope that a few may take root.

I doubt I'll have more than a birdie buffet until spring, as we don't get much rain this time of year. But we'll see!
I shall report back!

[steve]

Hi all

I tried Millet but found that the wild birds got it first, one thing that I am really interested in is planting a huge patch of chickweed, my birds love it. I planted carrots and gave them the tops but that did not last long. With nearly 100 birds to feed every day these things do not go along way. I planted celery but the birds don't like it, next I am going to try beetroot.

Steve