Nerdneck plots 2022

[UpStateRedNeck]

Planted imperial whitetail clover + chic magnet in my big plot (2 acres), went in May 14th.  Coming along nicely!  Rye is doing well, winter wheat is doing well in the others.  Another clover kill plot is going nuts, poochy is there for comparison but it's 9 inches high. Got 2300 pics to go through off 2 cameras for most of May.

Lower plot (last pic) is mostly rye will get brush hogged a couple times and planted in August.  Leaning towards turnips this year, maybe winter peas in a kill plot?  

Logger says he's 5 weeks out from taking 3500 trees my property.  Going to have him open a couple spots on those benches and make a couple kills plots down there.  Don't know what to plant yet.....

[UpStateRedNeck]

17 hours ago, blackbeltbill said:

Just curious-- what kind of Trees will the Logger cut and take? Or perhaps several different  kinds?

Mostly hemlock, some various hardwood too.  It's just a drop in the bucket for that lot. 

 

[DDT]

On 6/4/2022 at 9:44 PM, UpStateRedNeck said:

Logger says he's 5 weeks out from taking 3500 trees my property.  Going to have him open a couple spots on those benches and make a couple kills plots down there.  Don't know what to plant yet.....

Lime.

[UpStateRedNeck]

1 hour ago, DDT said:

Lime.

Yeah, there's no way I'm getting Lime down in there.  Drops 1000 feet in less than half a mile.  But I'll probably send out a soil sample to whitetail institute to get the exact calculations on how much triple 19 and 0/20/20 I need per quarter acre.

Really just want something tasty they'd be likely to stop and hit on their way through during bow/gun season.  Probably use one plot to target that during bow, one plot to target that during gun.  Clover is always popular, late season they seem to love winter rye.

Edited June 16, 2022 by UpStateRedNeck

[Five Seasons]

looks good. my fusion (clover and chick) went in the same time. Have some spots doing well and others not so much. Quite a bit of weed competition despite spraying twice. Getting to the point where I'm going to mow soon and possibly spray some broadleaf killer. 

[LET EM GROW]

On all your plots you should consider soil building blends for spring and summer seasons.. These soil builder blends will build your soil up for future plantings and feed wildlife while they are growing. Then terminate them for your fall plots. Depending on size and location there's many ways to get deer to come feast.. I certainly recommend not planting monoculture plantings. If you pick turnips, add a couple other brassicas, like winfred, radish, maybe an annual clover, Rutabaga etc.. It will make your plots more desirable. you can mix it up slightly with each plot.  These blends are a buffet, and who doesn't like a buffet? Offer them as much as you can so you can pull deer from the neighbors. These blends also offer different nutrients for your soils, promoting each others growth and as well as the following planting seasons growth too. Monocultures can deplete your soils of certain nutrients fast.  Depending on size and shape, Perennial Blends of clovers, chicory, alfalfa or plantains are great options. Clovers go dormant in hot summer days, added chicory will keep your plot greener and more attractive. Alfalfa will help it be preferred in summer months and colder fall days.  Chicory has a longer tap root and wont go dormant in drought, as it gets nutrients from down deep.. Seed Blends will make your plots much more desirable, and soil more healthy rather than one seed species unless your planting soybeans or corn or what not and with those you need a few acres to get results from them.. They work good mixed together as well. Best of luck. Reach out if you need ideas!

Strip plantings can put deer right where you want them as well!

[UpStateRedNeck]

Chicory has gone bananas the last 2 weeks.  Last pic you can see the big strip of clover is lush and thick.  But everywhere the chicory isn't coming up thick there's a decent amount of clover coming on too.  Considering we've never sprayed the weeds are pretty minimal.  We did use the York rake this year after discing to clear it all out seems to have helped.  It's about 2 acre plot.

[UpStateRedNeck]

Got these last Wednesday, been too busy to put them up until my 5 minutes in the mobile office this morning.  Stuff has gone crazy.  Im going to need to brush hog a lane pretty soon for the camera!

[LET EM GROW]

Give it a fresh cut. You can also spray cleth to control those grasses 

[Five Seasons]

mowing mine made all the difference in the world. In less than a week, stuff that was hidden under weeds exploded. Last week I also did some arrest max with crop oil to get some of the grasses. 

We didn't get those storms a few weeks ago, so mine is pretty dry without much rain in the forecast either.

 

[UpStateRedNeck]

Worried that the tractor would beat up the chicory.  Definitely thinking about giving it a trim with the brush hog about 18 inches off the ground to knock down the grass.  I've never sprayed anything up there, though I have a backpack sprayer for spraying BtK to kill all these damned moss caterpillars at my house.

[Five Seasons]

15 minutes ago, UpStateRedNeck said:

Worried that the tractor would beat up the chicory.  Definitely thinking about giving it a trim with the brush hog about 18 inches off the ground to knock down the grass.  I've never sprayed anything up there, though I have a backpack sprayer for spraying BtK to kill all these damned moss caterpillars at my house.

I cut at about 8", I guess I'll see how well I did with the chicory, but it's a very valid concern. I don't think spraying is by any means necessary. All I've read and learned is that mowing is the key, but to spray if you have more grass than you want. I see some grass in your pics, but you have lots of good stuff too. It might be tough to spray that much with a backpack.

[LET EM GROW]

General rule of thumb with perennials(besides Alfalfa) is to not cut more than a 1/3 of  the plants height. you really just want to top clip the plant, but mow back the weeds. a mowing would certainly do this plot good. Is that rye or wheat growing in your plot? Or grasses?

[UpStateRedNeck]

On 7/8/2022 at 6:07 AM, LET EM GROW said:

General rule of thumb with perennials(besides Alfalfa) is to not cut more than a 1/3 of  the plants height. you really just want to top clip the plant, but mow back the weeds. a mowing would certainly do this plot good. Is that rye or wheat growing in your plot? Or grasses?

Just grasses.  It's getting better due to repeat plowings/raking with the york rake each year.  You can see the grass is patchier form last year to this year.  

What I may do today is brush hog the edges then do a test strip down the middle (in front of the camera so I don't have to go through 3000 pictures of just wind) and see how bad it mauls the chicory.

[stubborn1VT]

I have mowed chicory to 3-4" and it didn't hurt it at all.  It has deep roots, so it bounces right back.  It's way tougher than many plants.  I say give that plot a haircut!

[UpStateRedNeck]

You boys were certainly right about the trim being good for it.  Deer are giving me 2 thumbs up as well.  First is a small clover plot by the blind which was completely overgrown, rest is the big chicory plot.

[UpStateRedNeck]

The logger has cleared 2 1/2 sized plots on the steep assed hillside property.  The more easily accessible one has some beautiful soil.  Thinking with the deep one, drill the stumps and use stump rot, in the mean time I'll fertilize it and plant some rye around.  The second, nicer, better drained, easily accessible one, planning on planting a few apple trees next year.  Might just pay the guy to come in and grind those stumps down to get it going quick.

Edit: Since pics never upload in the right order, pic #1 & 3 is the deep plot, 2 & 4 the accessible one.

Edited October 8, 2022 by UpStateRedNeck

[LET EM GROW]

With your steeper one, youll want to add a perennial blend as well. To help in erosion control asap. You want it green and holding soil together first thing in spring. OR frost seed it once you get it good and clear. You may have some bad erosion issues there. But all looks good!

[UpStateRedNeck]

On 10/10/2022 at 7:45 AM, LET EM GROW said:

With your steeper one, youll want to add a perennial blend as well. To help in erosion control asap. You want it green and holding soil together first thing in spring. OR frost seed it once you get it good and clear. You may have some bad erosion issues there. But all looks good!

I'm gonna bring a couple bags down and hand spread some rye on it today.  Probably use some rope+ chainsaw and drag it a bit after.  I am worried about the erosion factor in the spring.  Probably spread some fertilizer on the top plot today.  I have 8 bags left over and I'll soil test it in the spring.

[LET EM GROW]

On 10/22/2022 at 10:29 AM, UpStateRedNeck said:

I'm gonna bring a couple bags down and hand spread some rye on it today.  Probably use some rope+ chainsaw and drag it a bit after.  I am worried about the erosion factor in the spring.  Probably spread some fertilizer on the top plot today.  I have 8 bags left over and I'll soil test it in the spring.

Yea depending on where your at, your rye, if it gets moisture, should germinate this fall still. Warms temps yet for a bit, and it grows down to temps in the 30s