New plots

[BSK]

Getting some new food plots in shape. Although, to say it's muddy would be a serious understatement. Almost impossible to walk across them right now.

 

[hard county]

Gamey looking spots. What crop did you decide to put in?

 

[tree_ghost]

We just sprayed round up. Getting ready to lime in a couple more weeks

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Looking good! Way too wet at our place for any type of equipment work. Will take a couple more days, and of course, that's when the next line of rain is expected to come in

 

[BSK]

Gamey looking spots. What crop did you decide to put in?

For the new plots, soil won't be in shape for a year or two, so I will plant them in all Buckwheat this spring. Established plots will be a mixture of Buckwheat, Iron and Clay cowpeas, and Lerado soybeans.

 

[BSK]

Looking good! Way too wet at our place for any type of equipment work. Will take a couple more days, and of course, that's when the next line of rain is expected to come in

Too wet at my place too, but loggers are trying to finish clean-up so they can move on to the next job. Some of the roads are total quagmires from all the skidder traffic.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Great progress! Looking good!

 

[DoubleRidge]

For the new plots, soil won't be in shape for a year or two, so I will plant them in all Buckwheat this spring. Established plots will be a mixture of Buckwheat, Iron and Clay cowpeas, and Lerado soybeans.

For the two new plots we added last year we went ahead and limed & fertilized then planted soybeans, cowpeas and sunflower and they did ok...but looking back I believe we jumped the gun and want to now focus on building organic material....building soil....so for this spring is buckwheat the best choice to build organic material? .....in the fall will you broadcast a cool season blend into the buckwheat?....some of our older plots we recently sowed imperial whitetail clover ....then on the other older established plots we will be planting soybeans and cowpeas.....but on the two new plots I want to build soil... appreciate any suggestions or ideas.

 

[hard county]

For the new plots, soil won't be in shape for a year or two, so I will plant them in all Buckwheat this spring. Established plots will be a mixture of Buckwheat, Iron and Clay cowpeas, and Lerado soybeans.

Are you going to double crop it this summer or let it go to seed?

Buckwheat is my favorite. I don't think it's a coincidence the stuff farmers plant to improve soil is the same stuff deer eat. Smother the weeds, fibrous roots, residual fertilizer. It's a terrific plant.

 

[Popcorn]

GreenCover Seed Summer Release

A new blend at Green cover seed that I believe is as good a blend of soil building and summer food blend as can be. It is proven that multi-specie cultures are better at weed suppression, browse tolerance, soil improvement than monocultures. The cost is nowhere near as bad as beans alone and that lets me put more into fall / winter food. A lot of experimental plantings went into getting this blend balanced.

 

[BSK]

For the two new plots we added last year we went ahead and limed & fertilized then planted soybeans, cowpeas and sunflower and they did ok...but looking back I believe we jumped the gun and want to now focus on building organic material....building soil....so for this spring is buckwheat the best choice to build organic material? .....in the fall will you broadcast a cool season blend into the buckwheat?....some of our older plots we recently sowed imperial whitetail clover ....then on the other older established plots we will be planting soybeans and cowpeas.....but on the two new plots I want to build soil... appreciate any suggestions or ideas.

Buckwheat is an excellent soil builder. Plus, it will grow OK in very poor soil, and the soil of my new plots will be pretty acidic until the lime has time to activate, which can take 6 months to a year.

For my fall plantings, I will till under my summer crop in mid-August and plant a mixture of a low poundage of buckwheat (as a cover crop), as well as wheat, oats, winter peas and crimson clover.

 

[BSK]

Are you going to double crop it this summer or let it go to seed?

Buckwheat is my favorite. I don't think it's a coincidence the stuff farmers plant to improve soil is the same stuff deer eat. Smother the weeds, fibrous roots, residual fertilizer. It's a terrific plant.

I will wait and see how it does. Buckwheat is a 10-12 week crop. If I plant in late April, it will last until sometime around the 4th of July. Not sure if I will plant again since I'll be planting my fall plots in mid-August, just 6 weeks later.

 

[DoubleRidge]

Buckwheat is an excellent soil builder. Plus, it will grow OK in very poor soil, and the soil of my new plots will be pretty acidic until the lime has time to activate, which can take 6 months to a year.

We applied fertilizer and lime last year per the soil test....but we used pelletized lime....tried to get the longer lasting ag lime but the big spreader trucks in our area were book up on bigger jobs so we rented the buggy from co-op....we have several other established plots for the deer to eat on plus all the native new growth from the timber harvest... so on these two new "ridge top" plots we are wanting to focus on improving the soil quality....thanks for the info.

 

[tellico4x4]

Looking good!
One of my new members has a JD 550 and has had at camp for past month. Between rains he has managed to push one new plot & expand 6 others. Still got a couple more to go. 100T of lime already scheduled for late May when CO-OP finishes with farmers.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

We applied fertilizer and lime last year per the soil test....but we used pelletized lime....tried to get the longer lasting ag lime but the big spreader trucks in our area were book up on bigger jobs so we rented the buggy from co-op....we have several other established plots for the deer to eat on plus all the native new growth from the timber harvest... so on these two new "ridge top" plots we are wanting to focus on improving the soil quality....thanks for the info.

Also look into sorghum. That will establish a lot of green manure.

 

[Granddaddy]

I gave up on annuals years ago - too much work. I plant ladino clover, redland lll clover, crimson clover & turnips as a mix. The ladino & red clovers are perennials, the crimson is a great reseeder & the turnips reseed too. The clovers peak one after the other, turnips are great winter feed. Renovate every 3-5 yrs. Deer & turkey love it. Just required good initial soil prep, neutral pH.

 

[megalomaniac]

excellent, very exciting! But I'd get those stumps out of the last plot, they will be a headache for a decade if you don't.

 

[BSK]

We applied fertilizer and lime last year per the soil test....but we used pelletized lime....tried to get the longer lasting ag lime but the big spreader trucks in our area were book up on bigger jobs so we rented the buggy from co-op....we have several other established plots for the deer to eat on plus all the native new growth from the timber harvest... so on these two new "ridge top" plots we are wanting to focus on improving the soil quality....thanks for the info.

Pelletized lime will definitely activate in soil much quicker than ground limestone, but it also won't last as long. I suspect this first year I will use pelletized lime in my new plots just to get the rapid activation. Of course, the other downside to pelletized lime is cost. Cost of pelletized lime in bags is much higher than bulk agricultural lime.

 

[BSK]

excellent, very exciting! But I'd get those stumps out of the last plot, they will be a headache for a decade if you don't.

Yea, the bulldozer guy is working on that plot but it got too muddy. Waiting on a little drier weather.

 

[diamond hunter]

Looks great!