I've heard that honeylocust pods are a good protein rich forage for cattle. They may get too tall for what you are looking for, but they are low maintenance. They do have nasty thorns though you may be able to find a variety the produces fruit without the thorns. Check out www.oikostreecrops.com for more information.

Thanks for the info y'all. I have used staw bales before that I left out to get rained on to sprout all the seeds in them, so they wouldn't sprout in my garden. Mulching potatos this way produced some of the best potatos I've ever eaten, and what fun it was to run out before dinner and dig up a few crispy fresh Yukon Gold's right out of my own garden! Right now, since I am a single lady, my problem is getting the spoiled hay or straw from point A...the farmer or rancher's barn or whatever...to point B...my garden :( But, I'll look around as per some of your great suggestions and see what I can come up with :) However, right now I am preservering and on top of the mushroom compost and peat moss, I'm using a bunch of last year's dead grass clippings that I'd piled up, some of which were partially composting, and I am breathing prayers that there is no fungus in this material to affect my potato plants which are growing like crazy. Afterwards, I lightly dusted with Bonide Copper Fungicide, which I hope will control any potential fungus, and that it won't do more harm than good. Also, even though the plants look healthy with no sign of potato bugs, "something" seems to be nibbling the edges of some of my plants. If it gets worse, I'm going to have to fight back rather than have all my hard work destroyed by some trespassor! Another question I have is, when do I stop adding more compost, hay, straw or other mulching material on top of these fast growing potato plants? None of them have started blooming yet.

With 6 boxes already,sounds like a trail to me,Sure you could add more,but I don't recommend mounting on the fence,easy prey for predators.Mount your boxes safely on a baffled pole.see link below Here is a link that might be useful: nestbox mounting

I just travelled from London Ontario via Port Huron, then Flint, through MI via I-75 to their UP, WI, MN, and ND to Saskatchewan and later to Edmonton in Alberta in Canada, source of much of the oil and natural gas that the U.S. gets from Canada ... and was surprised at the low volume of traffic on that route - in tourist season. I used the method described above along much of that course, especially at night, when traffic was lighter. I have no idea how many miles I travelled with the engine not running, but it was substantial. And hardly ever did I interfere with the travel of anyone else using the road. Same strategy on the return trip. Last evening I started from near London Ontario and came down through Detroit, then down I-75 to Knoxville TN, then across on I-40 to Lake Junaluska, near Asheville, NC to a reunion of over 200 former missionaries and development workers to Korea, arriving just before the dinner hour. Though traffic was somewhat heavier, especially at rush hour, than on the northern route, I was able to coast dozens of times, without interfering with the rate of travel of people following me. Sometimes on a long downhill slope with rather light gradient, I'd re-start for a short speed-up of travel, part way down the hill, then coast again. I really appreciate the great effort that was expended to build that highway through the rocky hills/mountains of Kentucky, Tenessee and North Carolina: through the Great Smokies. More than I did earlier ... and I think that's an added benefit to my increased awareness of the importance of conservation of our resources, especially petroleum, plus reducing global warming and pollution. This profligate lifestyle that we've self-centredly carried out for three generations or less can't continue. And now, we have the gall to tell the rapidly industrializing countries, especially China, India, Brazil, etc. that tey've got to take an important role in decreasing pollution ... when we have three cars in every driveway, and they have about 1 car in 200 driveways (or is that 100)? Where do we get such gall? Many of us in the U.S. and Canada claim to be Christian. I wonder what God has to say about such heedless, greedy selfishness? ole joyful