by Brianna Walker
Immediate gratification is expected in today’s generation: fast-food chains, one-hour photo shops, and overnight mail are just some examples of this ever-growing trend. Farming has not been oblivious of this; although it is a bit harder to develop one-hour tomatoes or overnight peas, there are certain aspects that have accommodated to a faster paced life—turf.
Turf isn’t a new idea, there are references dating back to the sodbusters of the late 1800’s. Many of the early settlers to the Nebraska Territory built their homes of sod due to the lack of trees on the prairie. The settlers would cut blocks of “Nebraska marble” with shovels and pile the blocks atop each other to form walls. Their roofs were also constructed of sod, using mats of branches and brush as support.

Although turf may have been around for awhile, the reasons for growing and utilizing it have changed tremendously. While sod isn’t often used to construct homes, it has now become a common accessory to the yards of many homes.
Turf has high appeal for its ease and convenience, especially to people in sandy areas. Reasons for laying turf over planting grass seed encompass more than just providing an instant green lawn. Turf provides a barrier for weeds and stickers, reducing the amount of unwanted vegetation in ones lawn. A ready made lawn also helps to minimize blowing sand and dust. In areas where wind and sand are common visitors, turf offers an effective method for having a green yard. Denny Mcnamee, a homeowner in Hermiston, Oregon has experienced both the wind and sand demons in his yard. After having attempted to plant grass for a lawn three times and watching the wind blow his efforts down the road, Mcnamee decided to try laying turf.
Mcnamee purchased the sod for his lawn from Steve Walker of Stanfield, Oregon. Walker’s sod business, began four years ago with 10 acres of grass. He currently has 30 acres of turf and is also branching out to include foundation stock grass seed. “Growing turf is something I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile,” Walker says, “so I finally decided to give it a try.”
Walker estimated that it cost roughly $600 an acre for seed, but that wasn’t the primary expense. Much of the main equipment had to be purchased, such as a planter, mower, vacuum, roller, harvester, and equipment suitable for delivering the sod once it has been dug. “The equipment is the main cost,” he said, “but it costs to mow and fertilize it too.” The turf needs mowed every three days and fertilized every month.
Walker has experimented with different percentages in his grass mixture. His next planting will be eighty percent Kentucky Bluegrass, fifteen percent Rye grass and five percent Fescue. Walker explains the reason for this mixture is to provide the best lawn coverage possible. Rye grass likes shade, where bluegrass doesn’t; fescue grows in mats, and will grow over empty or thin spots and fill them in; bluegrass has fine, delicate blades that curl like the bow of a boat. Each of these characteristics combine to create a complementing blend of turf.
Once the seed is planted, it takes approximately 10 months before the harvest season can begin. His harvesting process takes a minimum of two people: one to drive the harvester and the other to ride on the machine and catch the rolls of sod as they come up the conveyor belt. His harvester cuts the grass into rectangular pieces that are on average 18 inches wide by 80 inches long. The cut turf then rides up the belt where it rolls itself. The person on the back grabs it and stacks it on a pallet attached to the back of the harvester. Each pallet contains 500 sq. feet of sod. The pallets are then loaded onto a truck and the turf is delivered to its new location—instant gratification for the buyer.
Farming is certainly keeping up with the times, while turf might not be overnight mail, or next day air, it still provides costumers the immediate results they have come to expect. It isn’t a sixty-minute carrot crop—but don’t eliminate the possibility.